Plants mostly 3-12(-25+) cm. Stems ± decumbent-ascending to erect. Leaves mostly 1-3 cm; blades linear or lobed (lobes 3-7+, linear to filiform), faces puberulent and gland-dotted. Peduncles mostly 5-25 mm. Involucres ± obconic, 5-6 mm. Phyllaries 7-10+, green to purple, weakly carinate, oblanceolate to obovate, ± hirsutulous and gland-dotted. Ray florets 0. Disc florets 15-30+; corollas yellowish, 1-2 mm. Cypselae blackish to buff, 3 mm, hispidulous to villous, especially on angles and/or at bases; pappi of 8 white to tawny or purplish, obovate-rounded or oblanceolate to ± quadrate, apically truncate or acute scales 1-2 mm. 2n = 22.

Flowering Aug-Oct. Roadsides, sandy slopes, and washes; 1600-2500 m; Ariz., Calif., Colo., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua); South America.

Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Annual herbs, 3-12 cm tall, though occasionally to 25 cm or more; stems erect or decumbent-ascending, with opposite branching close to the base.

Leaves: Leaves mostly opposite along the stems, though upper leaves can be alternate; blades 1-3 cm long, narrowly linear or lobed; the lobes 3-7 or more, linear to filiform; leaf surfaces puberulent and gland-dotted. 

Flowers: Flower heads yellowish, discoid, in loose terminal panicles, on peduncles 5-25 mm long; involucres obconic, 5-6 mm high, the bracts (phyllaries) 7-10 in two equal series, obovate, green to purple, hirsutulous and gland-dotted; florets all discs, 15-30 or more per flower head, the corollas yellowish, 1-2 mm high. 

Fruits: Achenes blackish to buff-colored, 3 mm long, hispidulous to villous, especially on the angles and at the base; topped with a pappus of 8 white to tawny or purplish scales, 1-2 mm long.

Ecology: Found on roadsides, on sandy slopes, and along washes, from 5,000-8,000 ft (1524-2438 m); flowers August- October.

Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, NM, and TX; south to Chihuahua, MEX; also in S. Amer.

Notes: This low-growing, delicate annual has small filiform leaves, some of which are simple and threadlike, and others which are pinnately divided into narrow lobes. The flowers are less than 1 cm high and lack rays, so they are not particularly showy; identify them by their somewhat hairy, wedge-shaped phyllaries, yellow disc florets, and when in fruit, the dark colored achenes topped with lighter colored scales. Its congener, S. pinnata, has one or two ray flowers per flower head and glabrous phyllaries.

Ethnobotany: The plant was chewed to treat mouth sores.

Etymology: Schkuhria honors Christian Schkuhr (1741-1811), a German botanist devoted to Linnean taxonomy; multiflora means many-flowered.

Synonyms: Bahia neomexicana, Cephalobembix neomexicana, Schkuhria multiflora var. multiflora 

Editor: AHazelton 2017