WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Densely branching erect stems to 12-inches tall bloom with compact clusters of showy, white flowers. Note the fragrant flowers with 5 spreading petals and opposite leaves with short, thread-like lobes whorled around the stems.

FLOWERS: May–September. Rounded clusters of tubular flowers opening 1/2-inch wide (12 mm) with 5 white, oval petals; stamens and style extend slightly beyond the yellow throat; sepals with tapering points enclose most of the 3/8–5/8-inch long (8–15 mm) floral tube.

LEAVES: Opposite, whorl-like at stem nodes. Blade cleft into 5-9 thin, linear to lance-shaped lobes 3/8–3/4-inch long (10–20 mm).

HABITAT: Dry sandy, gravelly soils, meadows, slopes, open woodlands; pinyon-juniper, oak-ponderosa, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 5,700–10,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, ID, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Desert Trumpets, L. aureus, in Catron, Grant, Hidalgo cos., has yellow flowers. Similar Phlox species have narrow to oval undivided leaves.

NM COUNTIES: Western half of NM in mid- to high-elevation habitats: Catron, Cibola, Grant, Lincoln, McKinley, Otero, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Valencia.