[3] This plant grows on exposed stretches of gravelly clay, including alluvial benches above floodplains and on mesa slopes.

[7] It is part of saltbush and sagebrush-dominated desert shrub plant communities, or pinyon-juniper woodlands.

Other plants in the habitat include shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), galleta (Hilaria jamesii), black sagebrush (Artemisia nova), Indian rice grass (Stipa hymenoides), strawberry hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus var.

melanacanthus), Simpson's pincushion cactus (Pediocactus simpsonii), prickly pear cactus (Opuntia polyacantha), winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata), yucca (Yucca harrimaniae), snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), low rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus), sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus), and Salina wildrye (Leymus salinus).

Almost all of the populations are threatened by habitat loss and degradation due to human activities such as hydrocarbon exploration, residential development, rock mining, and the introduction of livestock to the area.