Purple Mat
Nama demissum
Photographed near Salome Highway and Baseline Road, Maricopa Co., Arizona. March 2008. A high resolution image of a matting specimen from the Las Vegas area is at Wikimedia Commons by Stan Shebs.
ANNUAL: Diminutive spring annual with over-sized flowers. Grows more or
less prostrate forming mats if moisture is sufficient for extended growth.
FLOWERS: For the size of plant, large. Widely flared funnel in
rose-purple with five lobes.
LEAVES: Leaves are spatulate
and a bit fleshy. They are beset with glandular hairs with swollen bases.
RANGE: Fairly common on the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and California,
but present only after winters with good rains. Desert flats, rocky slopes and
along washes.
FRUIT: On maturity, a dry capsule with a number of seeds.
UNARMED. No spines.