Plants not winter annuals. Stems (simple or few to many from base), usually erect to ascending, rarely subdecumbent, (slender), (0.5-)0.8-2.7(-3.5) dm. Basal leaves not rosulate; petiole 0.5-1 cm; blade margins 1-pinnatisect, (1-)2.5-7(-10) cm; lobes (3-)6-12(-18) on each side, (smaller than terminal), linear to oblong or ovate, (1-) 2-10 × 0.5-1(-2.5) mm, margins entire or coarsely dentate. Cauline leaves (and bracts) similar to basal, smaller distally. Fruiting pedicels from racemes, (6-) 10-22(-30) mm, (slender). Flowers: sepals spreading to ascending, oblong-linear, (3.5-)5-7 × 1-1.5 mm, apex appendage not developed; petals spatulate, (8-)10-13 × 3-4.5 mm, apex rounded; median filament pairs 5-7(-8) mm, not dilated basally; anthers oblong, 1-1.5 mm; gynophore (0.5-)1-2(-5) mm, or, rarely, obsolete. Fruits usually oblong to elliptical, rarely suborbicular, usually latiseptate, rarely inflated, (0.5-)1-2.5(-3) cm × (3.5-)5-8(-11) mm, (not fleshy, thin-papery), base and apex acute; valves faintly reticulate-veined; replum flattened; septum complete or perforated; ovules (8-)10-20 per ovary; style 3-9(-12) mm, slender or flattened basally. Seeds 3-4 mm diam.; wing 0.5-1 mm. 2n = 46, 138.

Flowering Mar-May. Sandy open grounds, barren rocky sandstone or clay, granite soil, rocky grounds, shale barren, open areas in mixed juniper and oak, chert barrens, pastures, sandstone glades, fields, rocky prairies; 100-400 m; Ark., Kans., Mo., Okla.

Although R. C. Rollins (1993) and R. F. Martin (1940) suggested that Selenia aurea probably occurs in northeastern Texas, I have not seen any material from that state.