Loosely branching shrubs typically 2–4 feet tall (50–120 cm) have shredding bark and bicolored leaves. Note the opposite leaves and branching, and show-white, fragrant flowers with 4 petals and many yellow stamens.

FLOWERS: June–July. Single (usually) or in clusters of 3–5 on branch tips; petals 4, white to cream, oval, 1/4–3/4 inch long (6–20 mm), not clawed at base; stamens 25–60 with yellow anthers. Fruit an oblong, brown capsule 3/16–5/16 inch long (5–8 mm).

LEAVES: Opposite, deciduous; blades lance-shaped to oval, 3/8–2 inches long (1–5 cm); margins entire; surfaces bicolored, top green, bottom whitish with short to silky hairs.

HABITAT: Dry rocky, sandy soils, slopes, canyons; pinyon-juniper-oak woodlands, alligator juniper, ponderosa-Douglas fir forests.

ELEVATION: 5,000-10,000 feet (1524-3048 m)

RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, NM, TX, UT; rare UT, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: NM has 4 recognized varieties with variations in flower and leaf hairs: “Variation is immense and confusing.” (Flora Neomexicana III). Mearns Mock Orange, P. mearnsii, in southern NM, has single flowers and leaves with top and bottom the same color. Cliff Fendlerbush, Fendlera rupicola, has fascicled to opposite leaves, flowers with clawed petals, and 10 or less stamens. Cliffrose, Purshia stansburyana, has tiny leaves, flowers with 5 petals, and seeds with long, hairy plumes.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread and common in mid- to high-elevation, dry habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Luna, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union, Valencia.