Look for this showy plant in wet mountain meadows and seeps. Numerous white petal-like sepals surround a mass of yellow stamens on a 6–12-inch long, generally leafless stem. Note the single flower per stem and the fleshy, oval basal leaves. Mass blooming in early spring often follows the receding snow line.

FLOWER: May–September. Usually 1–2 flower stems (scapes) with 1 flower each, 5/8–1 1/2 inches diameter (15–40 mm), numerous white petal-like sepals with bluish-green undersides, stamens yellow.

LEAVES: Basal, erect from base with long stems (petioles). Blade oval to oblong, to 4 3/4-inches long and wide (12 cm), succulent, margins entire to toothed.

HABITAT: Wet gravelly, silty loam soils, seeps, bogs, marshes; open spruce-fir forests, subalpine and alpine meadows.

ELEVATION: 9,000–12,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM, UT; all Rocky Mt. states and westward.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Canada Anemone, Anemone canadensis, in similar habitats at lower elevations, has 5 petals and deeply divided basal leaves.

NM COUNTIES: Northern NM mountains in high-elevation, wet habitats: Colfax, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Taos.