WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

With stems and foliage densely covered with white to gray hairs, this sprawling to erect plant reaches 4–6-inches long with funnel-shaped white to lavender flowers. Note the branching stems from the base and pointed, narrow, lance-shaped, hairy leaves even-sized along the stems.

FLOWERS: May–July. Single flowers bloom from the leaf axils along the stem; the floral tube spreads open 3/8–1/2-inch wide (8–12 mm), white to lavender, 2 styles each split into 2 thread-like stigmas.

LEAVES: Alternate, crowded on stem, densely hairy. Blades even-sized along stem, 3/8–7/8-inch long (8–20 mm), narrow to lance-shaped.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly, clay loam, dunes, rocky slopes, plains; desert grasslands and scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 3,400–7,000 feet.

RANGE: Widespread west of Missouri River: AR, AZ, CA, CO, KA, MO, MT, NE, NM, OK, SD, UT, TX, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: 3 other species in southern NM. Silvery Morning Glory, E. sericeus, in the southern half of NM, has leaves with a hairy lower surface but few to no hairs on the upper surface. Two other species with limited distribution have stems generally 10 inches or longer.

NM COUNTIES: Nearly statewide in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats: Catron, Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, De Baca, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Luna, Mora, Otero, Quay, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union.