The plant bears a single curved spiked inflorescence 1–2.5 cm (0.39–0.98 in) long.

It is present in the southwestern and central United States, found as far north as Wyoming, as west as Arizona and Utah, and as east as Texas and Nebraska.

An introduced population also exists in Maine, although it is not common there and grows only in disturbed areas.

Populations exist in most of Central America, excepting parts of the Yucatán Peninsula, and extending to Panama.

In South America it is found in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and parts of Argentina and Chile.