The New Mexico forestiera is a multi-trunked medium shrub that grows upright and matures into a rounded vase shape. The sharply branching limbs have a pale gray bark contrasting nicely with the small, bright green leaves. Clusters of tiny, yellow-green, fragrant blossoms appear in early spring, providing an essential source of nectar for bees. Female plants produce numerous small, fleshy blue-black fruits that ripen in late summer and provide a winter food source for many species of birds and small mammals.

The New Mexico forestiera grows in canyons, rocky slopes, and desert flats in the Trans-Pecos region west to Utah and California. It can tolerate drought and all types of soil, even saline, and will grow in the sun or partial shade. In severe drought, it will lose its leaves. After the main trunks become established, they can be pruned into a small tree, providing sculptural qualities as an accent or specimen plant.