Flower stems are tipped with crowded, rounded clusters of white flowers that grow from a basal rosette of broad, fleshy leaves. Note the flower stem is densely hairy, and the 5 oval petals do not overlap.

FLOWER May–August. Flower stems 1 1/2–12 inches tall (4-30 cm), densely covered with pale, yellow-tipped, glandular hairs; stems topped with a rounded cluster of 10–40 small white flowers, each with 5 oblong petals, 1/2–3/16 inch long (2–4 mm).

LEAVES: Basal with flattened stem (petiole). Blades fleshy, diamond-shaped to elliptic, 3/8–1 5/8 inches long (1–4 cm); margins coarsely toothed, lined with ciliate hairs; reddish-brown hairs on the bottom surface.

HABITAT: Sandy, rocky soils; forests, meadows, stream sides, alpine ridges; ponderosa-Douglas-fir, spruce-fir-aspen forests, alpine, tundra.

ELEVATION: 6,240–12,800 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Wild Candytuft, Noccaea fendleri, in the mustard family, has flowers with 4 petals and a leafy stem.

NM COUNTIES: Mostly in northern NM mountains in mid- to high-elevation habitats: Cibola, Colfax, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos.