Smooth, hairless stems 6–24 inches tall have a few stem leaves and showy white flowers on the tips. Note the 1/2-inch wide flower head has stacked ray florets that get smaller toward the yellowish center, and the rays have tiny teeth. Tooth-like lobes line the edges of narrow leaves. The weak stems often grow up through shrubs, and the sap is milky.

FLOWER: February–June. Flower heads have rays only (no disk flowers) that are stacked in layers; tips have distinct, tiny, sharp teeth and the center is yellow tinged; the backside of the outer rays has a purplish streak. The inner row of phyllaries beneath  the rays are linear with a purple streak; the outer phyllaries at the base of the flower head are small with the tips curled backwards.

LEAVES: Basal and alternate on stem. Blades to 4–6-inches long (10–15 cm), narrow, lined with pointed, tooth-like lobes; leaves become smaller up the stem.

HABITAT: Dry sandy, gravelly soils; plains, mesas, foothills, drainages; desert grasslands and scrub.

ELEVATION: 3,700–5,700 feet

RANGE: CA, AZ, NM, NV, TX, UT.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The nearly identical White Tackstem,  Calycoseris wrightii, in much the same range and habitat, has visible tack-shaped, glandular hairs on the stem.

NM COUNTIES: Southern NM in low-elevation, dry habitats: Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo Luna, Otero, Sierra.