Erect to semi-prostrate, hairy stems reach 24-inches tall with solitary, 1-inch wide, pale-yellow flowers in the leaf axils. Note the leaf margins are wavy-edged to toothed or deeply incised. Stems are often tinted red. Flowers open at night a close the next morning and fade to a reddish-orange.

FLOWER: June–August. Floral tube 1/2–1 3/8-inches long (12–35 mm) with 4 pale-yellow, deeply notched petals; 8 unequal stamens nearly as long as petals; the anthers surround the stigma. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule 3/4–2 inches long (20–50 mm).

LEAVES: Basal rosette and alternate on stem. Blades oblong to lance-shaped in outline, 1 1/4–4 inches long (3–10 cm); margins pinnately cut into lobes or teeth.

HABITAT: Moist sandy, rocky soils; drainages, stream banks, roadsides, disturbed areas; pinyon-juniper, ponderosa-Douglas fir, spruce forests.

ELEVATION: 5,700–9,400 feet

RANGE: AZ, NM, TX; widespread west of Rocky Mts.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The small flower size and incised leaves distinguish this evening primrose.

NM COUNTIES: Western half and scattered in eastern NM in mid- to high-elevation, moist habitats: Catron, Cibola, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, Mora, Otero, Roosevelt, San Miguel, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro.