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