Nama demissa var. covillei

Coville's purple mat

Family: Namaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Coville's purple mat is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in the northern Death Valley region, particularly the rare Ivanpah Valley, on dry, sandy flats and slopes at elevations of 30 to 900 meters. Flowering from February to May, this plant produces blue-violet to pink flowers approximately 8 to 12 millimeters long with delicate limbs 8 to 9 millimeters in diameter. Growing with soft, shaggy gray-green stems, it forms low-spreading mats with distinctive winged leaf petioles. Its leaves are elliptic to diamond-shaped, measuring 5 to 13 millimeters long, with soft hairs giving the plant a distinctive textured appearance. The small black seeds are nestled in fruits 2 to 5 millimeters long, contributing to its unique desert adaptation.

Habitat: Dry, sandy flats, slopes

Bloom period: Feb-May

Elevation: 30-900 m

Bioregions: n DMoj (Death Valley region, rare Ivanpah Valley).

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.