Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Perennial, aromatic, up to 30 cm tall; stems numerous, slender, erect to decumbent, simple to branched, puberulent above, woody towards the base; taprooted.

Leaves: Cauline, numerous, crowded, opposite, seldom alternate above, simple to palmately lobed, up to 2 cm long, lobes 5-9, linear to filiform, glabrous to puberulent, apices acute to weakly spine-tipped, each blade commonly with an axillary fascicle of smaller leaves.

Flowers: Inflorescence raceme- to panicle-like, narrow, one-sided, the flowers nearly sessile to short-pedicellate; calyx 4- 6 mm long, glandular-puberulent, the tips acute to acuminate; corolla white to lavender, the tube 25-35 mm long, the lobes lanceolate to ovate, inconspicuously flecked with pink or lavender; anthers and stigma slightly exserted; flowers July-September.

Fruits: Capsule, ovoid to oblong, 4-5.5 mm long.

Ecology: Meadows, coniferous forests, oak woodlands, sandy to rocky soils; 1650-2600 m (5400-8500 ft); Apache, southwestern U.S., northwestern Mexico.

Notes: The leaves of Leptosiphon nuttallii are distinctly softer than those of Linanthus pungens.

Synonyms: Linanthus nuttallii, Leptodactylon nuttallii

Editor: Springer et al. 2008