Erect, stout 8–40-inch tall stems have tree-like leaves and numerous branches tipped with rounded clusters of small pinkish-white flowers. Note the milky sap (toxic) and bell-shaped flowers with petals with red strips on the inside and tips that curl backwards.

FLOWERS: June–August. Rounded clusters of slightly nodding, bell-shaped flowers 1/4–3/8-inch (6–10 mm) long with 5 petal-like lobes that curl backwards (reflexed).

LEAVES: Opposite, drooping (not ascending). Blades bright green, oval, 1 1/8–2 3/8-inches (3–6 cm) long by 3/4-1 3/8-inches (2–3.5 cm) wide, pointed at both ends, with prominent veins.

HABITAT: Moist sandy, gravelly soils, drainages, roadside ditches; pinyon-Gambel’s oak, ponderosa, aspen-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 6,000–9,200 feet.

RANGE: Widespread through western, north-central, north-eastern U. S.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Common Dogbane, A. cannabinum, in much the same range but usually lower elevations (pinyon-juniper), has erect leaves, greenish-white flowers with petal-like lobes that don’t curl back. Hybrids between the two have variable characteristics.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread in NM mountains in mid- to high-elevation habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Eddy, Grant, Harding, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Union.