Numerous erect stems from a root crown reach 2–4-feet tall. Note the leaves lined with prickly teeth along the margins and dense arrays of pinkish flowers with narrow, petal-like rays with toothed tips.

FLOWER: June–November. Clusters of pinkish flower heads on branch tips; each head 3/4-inch long (20 mm) with 8–12 florets; each floret has 2 narrow, petal-like rays with toothed tips and a protruding disk flower on a yellow column. Fruit is a fluffy seed head.

LEAVES: Alternate, clasping, stemless (sessile). Blades oblong, 1–5-inches long (2.5–12 cm), margins evenly lined with small, prickly teeth.

HABITAT: Sandy, rocky soils, washes, hillsides; desert scrub.

ELEVATION: 3,300–7,300 feet.

RANGE: AZ, NV, NM, TX, UT.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The look-alike Thurber’s Desert Holly, A. thurberi, has only 3–6 florets per flower head. Desert Holly, Abronia nana, forms colonies of 12-inch tall stiff stems with leathery, holly-like leaves with prickles.

NM COUNTIES: Southern and sw counties in NM in low-elevation, arid habitats.