WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Clusters of erect, leafy stems reach 3–10-inches tall with dense arrays of pale-yellow to white, funnel-shaped flowers on the tips. Note the oval leaflets are glandular-hairy, have a musky skunk-like odor, and are almost in whorls. The long floral tube is adapted for hummingbird and hawk moth pollination.

FLOWERS: May–July. Stem-tip clusters have numerous flowers with a 3/4–1 1/8-inch (20–30 mm) long tube that spreads open with 5 rounded, petal-like lobes; 5 yellow stamens nestle in the mouth of the throat with a longer 3-lobed style.

LEAVES: Mostly basal, 3/4–7 3/4-inches (2–20 cm) long with numerous oval leaflets densely covered with glandular hairs. Stem leaves similar, alternate; leaflets 3/16–3/8-inch (4–10 mm) long, spaced in whorl-like clusters along midrib.

HABITAT: Rock outcrops, limestone ledges, rocky soils; subalpine meadows, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 9,000–12,400 feet.

RANGE: CO, NM, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The funnel-shaped, yellow to white flowers and segmented leaves separate this from other mountain wildflowers. 

NM COUNTIES: High-elevation habitats in Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Taos.