Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings, rim-rock. Spring.
Prater Ridge Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, May 16, 2006.

These dainty cousins of the much larger Tetraneuris ivesiana (click to see) spread in large colonies but grow only several inches tall.  Leaves are nearly smooth but under magnification show numerous gland dots.  In the Four Corners area, these plants are most common in the Ponderosa zone along rim rock that is moist in the spring.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings, rim-rock. Spring.
Prater Ridge Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, May 16, 2006.

Tetraneuris torreyana was first collected by Thomas Nuttall near the upper North Platte in the mid-1830s and he named the plant Actinella torreyana.  Edward Greene renamed it Tetraneuris torreyana in 1898.  John Torrey was the most prominent botanist of the early and mid-1800s and was the teacher of Asa Gray with whom he co-authored many botanical books.  (More biographical information.)

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings, rim-rock. Spring.
Prater Ridge Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, May 16, 2006.