Bushy clumps of leafy, 3–6 inch tall stems are tipped with leafy spikes of white, bilaterally symmetrical flowers. Note the leaves are deeply cut into thin segments, and the lower flower petal is a much longer than the others.

FLOWER: May–September. Showy, crowded on stem tips; flower 3/8–3/4-inch long (1–2 cm) with 5 white petals, usually with purple lines in the throat; 1 short, deeply notched upper petal, 2 short lateral petals, 1 lower petal 2–3 times longer than the others.

LEAVES: Opposite, dense on stems. Blades 3/8–2 inches long (1–5 cm), pinnately cut nearly to midrib into 2–8  thin, linear segments.

HABITAT: Rocky, sandy, clay, caliche soils; rocky canyons, meadows, grasslands, pastures, disturbed areas, roadsides; short-grass prairies, desert grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands, ponderosa forests.

ELEVATION: 3,870–7,800 feet.

RANGE: CO, NM, OK, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: American Germander, T. canadense, in scattered NM counties, has unlobed, lance-shaped leaves; Coastal Germander, T. cubense, in southern NM, has 3-lobed leaves.

NM COUNTIES: Eastern 3/4 of NM in low- to mid-elevations, dry habitats:  Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Colfax, Curry, De Baca, Dona Ana, Eddy, Guadalupe, Harding, Lea, Lincoln, Mora, Otero, Quay, Roosevelt, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Torrance, Union, Valencia.