WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Stems 6–18 inches tall bear clusters of buds enclosed in purse-like, liquid-filled spathes. The flowers have 2 showy, ear-like, blue petals and one minute white petal. If squeezed, the spathe produces a drop of liquid, hence the common name Widow's Tears. Flowers bloom for one day.

FLOWER:  May–October. Buds clustered in liquid-filled spathe. Flowers 5/8–1 5/8 inch across with 2 showy oval, upper blue petals and 1 small, white lower petal. Six stamens: 3 upper stamens have showy yellow, lobed anthers; 3 lower stamens have unlobed anthers with yellow pollen.

LEAVES: Alternate. Leaves stemless or curl around stem. Blades long, tapering, linear to lance shaped, 2–6 3/4 inches long (2.5–17 cm).

HABITAT: Sandy, rocky soils, roadsides, fields, hills, scrub lands; desert grasslands and scrub, pinyon-juniper, oak-sandlands, ponderosa-oak woodlands.

ELEVATION: 3,480–8,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, KA, NM, OK, TX; widespread midwestern and southern U.S.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Birdbill Dayflower, C. dianthifolia, also has a spathe but flowers have 3 blue petals. Western Spiderwort, Tradescantha occidentalis, has flowers with 3 blue petals and hairy stamen filaments, and blooms  in a cluster without a spathe.

NM COUNTIES: In eastern and southern NM in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats: Chaves, Curry, De Baca, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, Mora, Otero, Roosevelt, Quay, San Miguel, San Juan, Sandoval, Sierra, Torrance, Union.