Hairy, leafless flower stems grow from a basal cluster of finely-hairy, gray-green, parsley-like compound leaves. The leaflets are arranged opposite along the midrib and deeply-incised into pointed lobes. Each stem is topped with a densely-clustered, round-topped array of small white to cream-colored flowers. Note the gray-green, hairy parsley-like leaves, and the showy cluster of flowers. The common name comes from the long taproot with a round, biscuit-like tip traditionally eaten like a radish. Also called Parish’s Springparsley.

FLOWER: February–April. Small white to creamy flowers densely packed in rounded, umbrella-like clusters (umbels); red anthers extend beyond the petals; flower stem is leafless, finely hairy, 2–18 inches tall (5–45 cm). Fruit is a oblong, angled capsule, 1/4–3/8 inch long (6–8 mm), hairy or not according to variety.

LEAVES: Basal cluster of 3–4 leaves on 2-inch (25 mm) stems (petioles). Blades greenish-gray, 1 1/2–4 inches long (4–10 cm), parsley-like, dissected 2–3 times into opposite pairs of leaflets; surfaces covered with fine, white, woolly hairs.

HABITAT: Dry sandy, gravelly, rocky soils; slopes, mesas, foothills; desert grasslands and scrub.

ELEVATION: 3,000–7,500 feet.

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

SIMILAR SPECIES: Two poorly defined varieties: var. parishii has hairless seeds; var. nevadense has hairy seeds. Fendler’s Springparsley, Cymopterus  glomeratus, in the northern half of NM and scattered in the south, has shiny leaves and yellow flowers.

NM COUNTIES: Southern and western NM in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats: Catron, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan, Sierra.