PLANT: Perennial herb from tuberous thickened rootstocks. STEMS: erect or ascending 10-23 cm high, somewhat suffrutescent. LEAVES: alternate, sometimes subopposite, the blades cylindrical, linear, 7-20 mm long, 0.5-1.5 mm wide; nodes with long hairs. INFLORESCENCE: villous with conspicuous, mostly tan or brownish hairs; involucral leaves 6-10, 6-30 mm long, 0.5-2 mm wide. FLOWERS: clustered at the ends of branches; petals orange or copper colored, 3- 10 mm long; stigmatic branches 5-6. CAPSULE 2-4.5 mm in diameter; stipe to 1 mm long SEEDS: black, sometimes iridescent, rounded-tuberculate. NOTES: Rocky slopes, flats, grasslands, roadsides, disturbed places, and in sandy, gravelly places along streams: Cochise, Gila, Graham, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai cos.; 600-1850 m (2000-6000 ft); May-Sep; NM, TX; n Mex. REFERENCE: Allison Bair, Marissa Howe, Daniela Roth, Robin Taylor, Tina Ayers, and Robert W. Kiger., 2006, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Portulacaceae. CANOTIA 2(1): 1-22.