Common name:
Fan-leaved crinklemat
Scientific name:
Tiquilia plicata
Range:
The Mojave Desert, and some neighboring areas
Height:
A few inches - stems are prostrate
Habitat:
Gravelly and sandy flats, sand dunes
Leaves:
Ovate to obovate, up to 0.5 inches long, prominently veined, covered with short, fine, white hairs
Leaves of tiquilia plicata are crossed by prominent, recessed, pinnate veins (four to seven pairs), and covered with appressed white hairs. Leaf margins and ridges bear a few short spines. Leaves are evergreen, densely clustered, on zig-zag stems which have an opposite branching arrangement.
The small, funnel-shaped flowers have a white, pink or reddish corolla, with five shallow lobes, and five yellow-tipped stamens, not exserted. The calyx is divided into five pointed lobes, and has a covering of relatively long hairs, on the inner surface. Flowers are solitary, at the leaf nodes, and sessile.