Nama hispida var. spathulata

Family: Namaceae · Type: perennial · Native

nama hispida is a California native perennial found in northern Santa Margarita Mountains, eastern Mojave Desert, and Sonoran Desert in dry sandy or gravelly flats and slopes at elevations below 700 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces blue to purple-lavender flowers in small clusters with salverform corollas 10 to 15 millimeters long. Growing with ascending to erect stems 7 to 30 centimeters tall that are densely covered in fine, bristly glandular hairs, it has a distinctive mealy appearance. Its leaves are sessile, 1 to 5 centimeters long, linear to spoon-shaped, and slightly rolled under. The fruit is small, measuring 3 to 6 millimeters in length with yellow to orange seeds featuring a distinctive net-like texture.

Habitat: Dry, sandy or gravelly flats, slopes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 700(900) m

Bioregions: n SnBr, e DMoj, DSon

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