Grows in clumps or patches with very narrow leaves in whorls and bearing white, star-like flowers in round clusters. A very abundant plant in Northern Arizona. Queen and Monarch butterfly caterpillars eat the toxic leaves with no ill effect.
Many stemmed, erect perennial; leaves whorled, 3 or more per node, narrow, hairless on both surfaces, margins curved backwards; head-like flower clusters, 5 greenish-white petals with whitish to yellow horn-like appendages (hoods); fruit stems erect.
Habitat
Grasslands and montane; among grasses, sandy or rocky flats, slopes, roadsides, along trails.
Flower Characteristics
Rounded, 1 to 2 inches wide clusters of 1/2 inch wide white to cream, sometimes greenish-purple flowers; 5-parted flowers include sepals, petals, a crown (corona) arising from the middle of the petals, upright hoods that look like petals and horns.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Thread-like leaves, 5 inches long, with rolled edges; leaves in whorls of 3 to 5 at stem joints.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Erect, slender flattened pod, 4 inches long.
Each flat brown seed has a tuft of silky hairs.