Coleogyne is a monotypic genus. Coleogyne is a low lying, dark grayish-green, aromatic, spiny, perennial, soft wooded shrub. It may spread across the ground in clumps or grow erect to approach 1.8 m in height. Flowers have 4 yellowish sepals, many yellow stamens, and may have 4 or no petals. The leaves are inversely lanceolate, up to 1 cm long, have a small point at the tip, and are arranged in opposite pairs along the stem. The leathery flowers grow at the ends of small stems. They are encased in thick, fuzzy sepals which are yellow inside and reddish or orange on the outer surface. There are no petals, but the sepals remain after the flower opens, surrounding the patch of whiskery stamens and the central pistil. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long. Coleogyne native to the deserts of the southwestern United States.