Common name:
Mat crinklemat
Scientific name:
Tiquilia latior
Range:
South Nevada, south Utah and north Arizona
Habitat:
Semi-deserts; sandy, clayish or rocky places, from 2,000 to 5,000 feet
Leaves:
Narrowly ovate, relatively thick and up to half an inch long; bristly and glandular
Tiquilia latior, a perennial, blooms mostly in late spring, but flowers can appear all the way to early fall. This is a low-growing, shrub-like species; plants produce many stems, which branch profusely and become woody, forming dense mats, just a few inches high but up to 2 feet across. New growth is mixed with dead leaves and stems from previous years. Leaves are small, clustered and sparsely covered with long bristly hairs. Leaf surfaces are glandular.
The small, funnel-shaped flowers are radially symmetric, with five rounded, partly overlapping lobes colored pale pink, yellow at the base. The light green calyx lobes are narrow, and similar in appearance to the uppermost leaves.