Stems, often in dense clusters from a woody root crown, reach 20 inches tall with foliage noticeably dotted with tiny tufts of silvery hairs. Note the long, linear, narrow leaves, and the elongated, spike-like clusters (racemes) of orange, cup-shaped flowers. The leaves are thread-like, simple on the upper stem and with three spreading lobes on the lower stem.

FLOWER: May–September. Elongated clusters mostly have 1 flower per node; petals 5, rounded, orange, each 5/16–5/8 inch long (8-15 mm). The pronounced stamen column is topped with a cluster of yellow anthers. This species has several hair-like bractlets below the flower base (calyx).

LEAVES: Alternate. Blades filament-like 1/16–3/16 inch wide (1–4 mm), and 3/8–1 1/4 inches long (1–3 cm), with 3 or segments lobes near the base and simple, unlobed near the top; surfaces whitish with tiny silvery hairs.

HABITAT: Dry sandy, gravelly soils of hills, bluffs, rocky slopes, grasslands, rangeland, roadsides; prairie grasslands, desert grasslands and scrub, juniper foothills.

ELEVATION: 4,148–7,200 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM, TX, UT.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The filament-like leaves distinguish this species from the numerous other globemallows in NM.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread in low- to medium, arid habitats: Catron, Chaves, De Baca, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, McKinley, Otero, San Juan, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Valencia.