Plants annual (perennial). Stems decumbent to ascending, much branched, elongate, often reddish, glandular-pubescent, viscid. Leaves: petiole 1-7 cm; blade ovate-oblong to elliptic, 1-5.5 × 0.7-3 cm, margins entire to sinuate, often ± undulate, infrequently shallowly lobed, surfaces viscid-pubescent. Inflorescences: peduncle longer than subtending petiole; bracts lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 5-10 × 1-3 mm, papery, glandular-pubescent; flowers 10-30. Perianth: tube pink, 10-20 mm, limb bright magenta to pale pink, infrequently pale rose, 6-8 mm diam. Fruits broadly obdeltate in profile, 5-10 × 4-8 mm, scarious, apex narrowly tapered to a prominent beak; wings 5, extending to or slightly beyond base of beak, truncate, with conspicuous dilations, cavities extending throughout.

Flowering spring-fall. Sandy soils, desert scrub; 300-1300 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; n Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila).

Plants on gypsum flats and knolls of White Sands, New Mexico, are perennial, but may flower in their first season.