WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

The bright red flowers with 5 with deeply cut petals with fringe-like lobes make this 1–2-foot tall, branching plant distinctive in mountain meadows and along trails. Glandular hairs cover the stems and foliage. The species name means “torn or slashed into narrow strips” refers to the petals.

FLOWERS: July–September. Clusters of 1–9 blooms with scarlet petals, each 5/8-inch long (15 mm), and deeply cut into narrow divisions; the stamens extend beyond the throat. The calyx beneath the petals is tubular, 10-veined, glandular-hairy, and 3/4–1-inch long (20–25 mm).

LEAVES: Opposite, 4–7 pairs per stem. Blades variable linear to lance-shaped to elliptic, 1 1/4–3 1/8-inches long (3–8 cm), smaller up the stem; surfaces hairy, margins entire.

HABITAT: Rich gravelly soils, ridges, meadows, roadsides; ponderosa, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 7,000–10,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CA, NM, OR, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The scarlet, fringe-like petals make this species distinctive.

NM COUNTIES: Western and southern NM in mid- to high-elevation habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, McKinley, Lincoln, Luna, Otero, San Juan, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Valencia.