[Illustration: Nama demissum]
Common names: PURPLEMAT, PURPLE ROLL-LEAF
Arizona, California and Texas deserts: (_Nama demissum_). Red-purple.
March-May.
Waterleaf family. Size: Tiny plant, an inch or so high.
Although the plants are very small, they grow close together and the
blossoms are often quite large in comparison. The reddish-purple color
of the flowers stands out in sharp contrast to the green of spring
vegetation so that a widespread growth of the plants forms patches or
mats of colorful desert carpeting.
Masses of the plants are usually found on open flats, often among
Creosotebush, and on either clay or sandy soils. In dry years, growth is
restricted and a tiny plant may bear but a single flower, the blossom
sometimes almost as large as the rest of the plant.