Carnegiea gigantea, Giant Saguaro

Southwest Desert Flora

Home to the plants of the Sonoran, Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts

Cirsium ochrocentrum, Yellowspine Thistle

Nama demissum, Purplemat


Scientific Name: Nama demissum
Common Name: Purplemat
Also Called: Leafy Nama, Purple Mat (Spanish: Flor Morada)
Family: Hydrophyllaceae (Boraginaceae, Hydrophylloideae), the Waterleaf Family
Synonyms: (Conanthus demissus)
Status: Native
Duration: Annual
Size: Up to 4 inches or so in height and sprawling to 8 inches.
Growth Form: Forb/herb; mat-like plants with dense hairs, prostrate.
Leaves: Green; hairy, flattened, spathulate.
Flower Color: Purple or deep pink; flowers from axils, corolla with 5 petals, funnel- or bell-shaped, fruit a capsule.
Flowering Season: February to May.
Elevation: Up to 3,500 feet.

Habitat Preferences: Common in Creosote Bush communities in sandy washes, sandy loam or gravelly flats.

Recorded Range: Purplemat is found in the southwestern United States in AZ, CA, NV and UT. It is also native to Baja California and northern Mexico.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Nama demissum.

U.S. Weed Information: No information available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No information available.
Wetland Indicator: No information available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No information available.

Genus Information: 22 species in Nama in the United States and Mexico. 6 species in Arizona. The Plant List includes 132 scientific plant names of species rank for the genus Nama. Of these 54 are accepted species names.

2 varieties in Nama demissum:
Nama demissum var. covillei, Coville's Purplemat, CA only;
Nama demissum var. demissum, Purplemat (recorded range above).

Comments: Purplemat is similar in appearance to Bristly Nama, Nama hispidum which is also found in similar habitats.

Purplemat is closely related to and similar in appearance to Bristly Nama, Nama hispidum.

Date Profile Completed: 10/01/2015, updated format 10/12/2017
References:
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service on-line database and USGS ITIS search
Arizona Flora, Kearney, Thomas H., Peebles, Robert H., 1960, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles, California.
The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 10/01/2105).
http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Boraginaceae/Nama/
Native Plant Information Network, NPIN (2013). Published on the Internet http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ [accessed: 10/01/2105]. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas, Austin, TX.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=NADE
1993, The Jepson Manual, Citation: http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange/I_treat_indexes.html (accessed 10/01/2105)
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?4518,4551,4556
Wikipedia contributors, 'Nama demissum', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 July 2015, 21:20 UTC,
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nama_demissum&oldid=671768181 [accessed 1 October 2015]
SEINet for synonyms, scientific names, recorded geographic locations and general information
http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/.