Purshia stansburiana  Cliffrose
EVERGREEN SHRUB.  Short and compact or tall (to about 3 m) and disheveled looking, with dark, contorted branches and dark green, densely clustered leaves.  Leaves are tiny, thick and resinous, divided into many long, round-tipped lobes.  Flowers creamy white to yellowish, showy, fragrant, 3-5 cm in diameter.  Seeds have conspicuous curly, fuzzy red tails.  Blooms in May-June.  In the Empires, uncommon on dry slopes at higher elevations in desert grassland.  Sometimes called Cowania mexicana.  Cercocarpus species have similar seeds but flowers are not showy and leaves are not deeply dissected.
FAMILY:  Rosaceae (Rose Family)