This mustard grows in the San Rafael Swell on Bureau of Land Management territory in Emery County. The only other population is located in Capitol Reef National Park in Wayne County. The habitat is dry and mostly barren of vegetation. The substrate is fine, eroding red clay containing large amounts of selenium and gypsum. The area is a desert shrub plant community. Other plants in the habitat include sweet sand verbena (Abronia fragrans), shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis), tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus), Torrey's jointfir (Ephedra torreyana), green ephedra (Ephedra viridis), fluffgrass (Erioneuron pulchellum), Nuttall's povertyweed (Monolepis nuttalliana), dropseed grasses (Sporobolus) sp., and desert princesplume (Stanleya pinnata).