PLANT: Compact, matted, taprooted perennial, with 8-many decumbent to ascending stems; stems 6-10(15) cm long, the lower internodes obscured by the leaves. LEAVES: linear, firm, thick, grayish green, mucronate, glabrous to sparsely pubescent proximally, 8-15(-18) mm long, 1-2 mm wide. INFLORESCENCE: flowers solitary, subsessile. FLOWERS: calyx 6-10(-12) mm long, the membranes weakly ridged to distended; corolla white to light lavender, the tube 8-18 mm long, the lobes 5-8 mm long, obovate, obtuse; stamens inserted on the upper tube; stigmas located below most of the stamens. NOTES: Rocky soils, slopes, coniferous forest and woodland: Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Graham, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Yavapai cos.; 800-2800 m (2500-9000 ft); Apr-Jul; NV & ID s to Baja C. The name P. diffusa subsp. subcarinata Wherry, which occurs in CA, has been misapplied to collections of P. austromontana in AZ. REFERENCES: Dieter H. Wilken and J. Mark Porter, 2005, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Polemoniaceae. CANOTIA 1: 1-37.