General description: A small (10-20 cm) and variously branched perennial.  Leaves are thick, long and narrow, with white margins, glabrous or minutely pubescent.  Plants apprear as rosettes before flowers are produced.  Flowering structures are typically much branched, with greenish-white flowers.  Calyx is deeply 4-parted, with petals 8-10 mm long.  A small greenish gland occurs near the base of each petal, and small purplish dots appear on the upper surface of the petals (Naumann 1991, Spackman et al. 1997).

Look Alikes: It is quite distinctive and is unlikely to be confused with other taxa (Naumann 1991). However, leaves look superficially like the young leaves of Yucca glauca, but on close inspection, Yucca leaves are thicker and more fibrous, with fibers peeling off at the margins.

Phenology: Flowers in mid-June to mid-July. Produces fruits in July after flowering.

Low sandy/sandstone breaks in grasslands, northerly aspects in between rocks or just below them; shallow slopes. Associated with surface outcrops or shallow-to-bedrock occurrences of Cretaceous rock formations, including Greenhorn limestone, Graneros shale and Dakota sandstone. Plant community generally shortgrass prairie, mixed prairie breaks, or open pinyon-juniper woodlands. Substrate is the best indicator for locations of this species (Naumann 1991, Spackman et al. 1997).

Elevation Range: 4,071 - 5,800 feet (1,241 - 1,768 meters)

Colorado endemic: Yes
Global range: Colorado endemic; documented habitat less than 300 acres; potential undocumented habitat is estimated at about 1,000 acres (Naumann 1991). Total range is about 25 miles x 75 miles (estimated by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program in 2008). This species is known from four counties: Baca, Bent, Prowers, and Las Animas.

Primarily threatened by wind energy development (pers. comm. Don Hazlett 2014). Moderately threatened by agricultural and road management practices such as herbicide application; grazing may suppress reproduction, but probably doesn't frequently kill established plants except in cases of overgrazing; primary threat is inadvertent loss or alteration of naturally limited habitat (Naumann 1991).