Each basal rosette of leaves produces a cluster of stems topped with a radiating, umbrella- or candelabra-like cluster of small, white to pinkish flowers. Note the radiating flower cluster, and the narrow (not broad) leaf-like bracts at the base of the cluster. Depending on elevation and habitat, plants vary from small and inconspicuous, to robust and showy.

FLOWER: April–September. Up to 10 flower stems (scapes), 3/4–4 inches long (1–10 cm), grow from the basal rosette; each stem is topped with an umbrella-like cluster (umbel) of 3–25 flowers. Flowers have 5 white to pinkish petals, each about 1/8-inch wide (4 mm), with a rounded tip and a yellow to greenish throat; the calyx tube beneath the flower has prominent ridges and broad, pointed lobes shorter than the petals. Note the cluster of leaf-like bracts at the base of the umbel are linear to narrowly lance-shaped and pointed, not broad. High-elevation plants tend to be delicate with short scapes, while low-elevation plants are more robust with elongated scapes.

LEAVES: Basal rosette. Blades lance-shaped, 2–8-inches long (5–20 cm); surfaces hairy or not; margins entire or with small teeth.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly moist soils, mountain meadows, open areas, trails, slopes;, ponderosa-Douglas fir, spruce-fir forests, alpine tundra.

ELEVATION: 5,000–12,000 feet.

RANGE: Widespread in mountains west of Rockies; circumboreal.

SIMILAR SPECIES: This is a highly variable species complex. Western Rock Jasmine, A. occidentalis, widespread at lower elevations in pinyon-juniper woodlands, has broad (not narrow), lance-shaped to oval bracts at the base of the umbel cluster.

NM COUNTIES: Mountains of NM in mid-to high-elevation, moist habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Colfax, Cibola, Grant, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Valencia.