Round clusters of about a dozen flowers, borne on short, thick stems. Leaves green, either bright green and hairless or gray-green with a dense covering of fine hairs.
Short, woody plant, many erect stems; 2 forms, green, hairless or gray and woolly. Leaves lance-like to oval, up to 3/4 inch wide. Cylindrical (torulose) follicles (dry, many-seeded fruits opening along one side), distinctly constricted between seeds.
Habitat
Sandy deserts.
Flower Characteristics
Green flower tube to 1/2 inch long, ringed by narrow, purplish bracts, opening out into 5 pointed grayish-blue (lead-blue) petal lobes; yellowish-green at the base.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems 8 to 16 inches tall; leaves alternate, oval to lance-like, green and hairless or gray-green with a dense covering of fine hairs, 3/4 to 2 inches long and to 3/4 inch wide.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Follicles (dry, many-seeded fruits opening along one side) 1-1/2 to 3 inches long, without hairs to woolly matted hairs, distinctly constricted between the seeds.
Oval, corky, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide.