Upright shrubs reach 3–9 feet tall (1–3 m) with intricate, thornless branches, shredding bark, and small leathery leaves with the edges rolled under. Note the showy, fragrant, 2-inch wide, white to faintly pink-tinted flowers with 4 spatula-shaped petals.

FLOWERS: March–June. Mostly solitary in leaf axils or clusters of 2–3 at branch tips; petals 4, white, 3/8–3/4 inch long (1–2 cm) by 1/4–1/2 inch wide (5-12 mm), spatula-shaped with the base abruptly tapering into a narrow claw. Fruit a 4-celled, oval, pointed capsule 1/4–5/8 inch long (7–15 mm).

LEAVES: Opposite or in fascicled clusters, stalkless (sessile); blades oblong to elliptic, 3/8–1 5/8 inches long (1–4 cm); edges entire, rolled under; surfaces sometimes hairy.

HABITAT: Dry rocky slopes, ledges, canyons, arroyos, blue grama grasslands; desert grasslands and scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, montane scrub.

ELEVATION: 5,600-8,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM, NV, UT, TX; Mexico.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Little-leaf Mock Orange, Philadelphus microphyllus, has flowers with 4 petals with rounded bases. Cliffrose, Purshia stansburyana, has tiny leaves, flowers with 5 petals, and seeds with long, hairy plumes.

NM COUNTIES: Nearly statewide except the eastern plains in medium elevation, dry, rocky habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Luna, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance.