Duration: Perennial
Nativity: Native
Lifeform: Forb/Herb
General: Erect and sprawling to decumbent canescent herb or shrub with woody, square stems, branching from the base.
Leaves: Sub-sessile, borne in tightly bunched clusters, well-spaced along the stems, becoming more crowded apically, leaves dark green, spatulate to oblanceolate, 2-4 cm long, to 1 cm wide.
Flowers: Blue to violet, darker in color inside the throat, corollas bilabiate but appearing to have 5 small lobes, borne in axillary, few-flowered clusters (sometimes singular), the 4 stamens exserted and protruding beyond the surrounding flowers and leaves when mature.
Fruits: Narrowly oblong capsule with 2-4 seeds, usually included in a persistent calyx. Seeds mucilaginous when wetted.
Ecology: Found on dry soils on plains, mesas, and foothills, from 4,000-5,500 ft (1219-1676 m); flowers April-October.
Distribution: Ranges from the southwestern United States south through central Mexico
Notes: Stems and leaves feel coarse to the touch due to the trichomes that cover the plant.
Ethnobotany: Unknown
Etymology: Unknown
Synonyms: Calophanes decumbens, Dyschoriste decumbens, Dyschoriste schiedeana var. decumbens
Editor: SBuckley, 2010, LCrumbacher 2011