Low, spreading woody stems, usually forming mats to 2 feet wide and 8 inches high, are densely covered with small elliptical, gray-woolly leaves. Note the small pink to white flowers nestled in the leaf axils.

FLOWER: March–September. Solitary pink, lavender, to white flowers bloom in axils of leaves; flowers funnel-shaped, 1/4-inch long (5–6 mm) with 5 rounded, spreading lobes, each 1/8-inch wide (2.5–4.5 mm); stamens and style inside throat.

LEAVES: Alternate, usually thickly clustered on stems. Blade oval to elliptic, 3/16–1/2-inch long (5–13 mm), tips pointed, surfaces densely covered with gray-white, woolly hairs.

HABITAT: Rocky, sandy, limestone soils, desert hills, slopes, ridges, roadsides; desert grasslands and scrub.

ELEVATION: 3,000–5,500 feet (one record 8,100 ft. in Sacramento Mts.).

RANGE: AZ, CA, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Plume Crinklemat, T. greggii, in Dona Ana, Eddy, and Otero cos., has elliptical, densely-woolly, grayish leaves and feathery, plume-like seed heads (see photo). Hairy Crinklemat, T. hispidissima, in much the same range, has narrow, hairless leaves with scattered bristles. The gray-green, mat-forming Woolly Tidestromia, Tidestromia lanuginosa, in much the same range, has fleshy stems, hairy leaves, and tiny, yellow flowers.

NM COUNTIES: The southern  half of NM in low-elevation, arid habitats: Chaves, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, Otero, Sierra, Socorro, Valencia.