Erect, 1–3-feet tall plants have a single, leafless, woody, pencil-like stem 1/4–3/4-inch in diameter and topped in the upper half with a compact clump of wiry, angled branches covered with small, yellow flowers. Pioneers used the plants with its dense, round branching as brooms. Dense stands of the plant in pastures are a signature for overgrazing.

FLOWER: July–November. Yellow flower heads 3/8–5/8-inch wide with 6–12 ray flowers, each 1/4-inch long, and a yellow disk. This fall bloomer covers overgrazed fields in dense masses.

LEAVES: Alternate, lance-shaped, stemless leaves reach 1/4-inch wide and 3/4–2-inches long and are dotted with tiny glands (visible with lens).

HABITAT: Sandy, rocky, clay soils of prairies, fields, roadsides, disturbed areas; plains, shortgrass prairies.

ELEVATION: 3,200–4,400 feet.

RANGE: NM, widespread KA, OK, TX; scattered through South, Midwest.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The pencil-like, single stem, rounded branching, and small, yellow flower heads help identify this species. Snakeweed, Gutierrezia sarothrae, statewide, has multiple, thin stems.

NM COUNTIES: Eastern NM plains in low-elevation, dry habitats: Catron, Chaves, Don Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Otero, Sierra..