Purple nama, or ground nama, blooming on dry slopes near Reno, Nevada

 purple nama
purple nama

Purple nama flowers with yellow centers of pentagonal symmetry
In some regions of the western United States and northern Mexico the desert floor becomes carpeted by patches of purple-blooming namas in the wake of some spring rain. Various Nama species with tubular, five-lobed flowers, including Nama demissum (Mojave Desert), Nama depressum (eastern California, Nevada) Nama californicum (California and western Nevada), Nama aretioides (Great Basin to Pacific Northwest) and Nama lobbii (Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range), bloom in the pale pink to deep purple color range. The species named purple nama is typically associated with Nama aretioides—also known as ground nama. Indeed, purple nama is a low-growing plant. Each flower with its five partially fused lobes features a yellow center with a fringe-like, white border. The thick, olive-green, sickle-shaped leaves are coated in coarse hair. The picture shows purple nama found next to a slope-traversing trail in Hidden Valley Regional Park east of Reno. Although a rare plant, purple nama becomes locally common in certain years on the south side of Peavine Mountain and the Hidden Valley hillsides, north and east of the Truckee Meadows, respectively.
Namas were formerly placed in the waterleaf family (Hydrophyllaceae), but are now included in the borage family (Boraginaceae). The species purple mat, Nama demissum, is very similar to purple nama, but grows further south in the Mojave Desert.
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More to explore about purple namas
▶ Purple nama (Nama aretioides)
▶ Purple Nama, Ground Nama
▶ Nama aretioides
▶ Laird R. Blackwell: Great Basin Wildflowers