- herbaceous vine usually climbing into low shrubs
- leaves finely dissected, ultimate segments usually 1/4 inch wide or narrower
- foliage turns purple during drought periods, becoming very conspicuous
- flowers with 4 small white petals
- fruit a 3-lobed inflated (balloon-like) pod
- found in medium-stature thornscrub on tight sandy or gravelly soils
- Hidalgo, Starr and Zapata counties
- also in Tamaulipas, Chihuahua and Durango
