Plants 1-5 dm. Basal leaves: petiole usually 0.3-0.5(-1) cm; blade 2-4 × 0.2-0.4 cm. Inflorescences (10-)20-45 cm. Perianths white to rose.

Flowering Jul-Nov. Sandy or gravelly slopes, sagebrush communities, oak, pinyon-juniper, and montane conifer woodlands; 1400-2500 m; Ariz., N.Mex.; Mexico (Chihuahua).

Variety pharnaceoides is found infrequently throughout its range in northern and eastern Arizona (Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yavapai counties) and western New Mexico (Catron, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra, Socorro, and Taos counties). Thurber (773, NY) gathered the only known collection from Mexico at Janos, Chihuahua, in 1852.