[1] Locally known as the Candelaria Rim Rock, the Sierra Vieja comprise the southernmost tip of the Southern Rocky Mountains in North America.

The Native American presence in the area hindered cattle ranching until the final years of the nineteenth century.

[2] The Sierra Vieja rim has long served as an unofficial boundary, with Spanish language and culture prevailing west of the range on both sides of the Rio Grande.

[4] The shallow, stony soils in the Sierra Vieja support live oak, piñon pine, juniper, conifer, cacti, and grasses.

It grows to three and a half feet tall and is endemic to a single site: Capote Falls in the Sierra Vieja.