Nama hispidum A. Gray, sandbell, rough nama. Annual, taprooted, several–stemmed at base, with ascending and spreading branches, in range to 32 cm tall; shoots principally with cauline leaves, stiff–hairy (hispid).
Stems cylindric (lacking ridges), < 3 mm diameter, purple–red or reddish, with inconspicuous glandular hairs and some arching short hairs.
Leaves helically alternate, simple, sessile, without stipules; blade linear or narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, < 10—29 × 2—7.5 mm, tapered at base, entire, acute to acuminate at tip, pinnately veined with midrib sunken on upper surface and midrib (principal veins) raised on lower surface, having glandular hairs with slender stalks and minute, colorless heads, upper surface uniformly covered with ascending hairs, lower surface hairs along margins and midrib and some short hairs on surface.
Inflorescence condensed cyme, terminal on each ultimate branch, several–flowered, hispid; bract subtending cyme leaflike; bractlet subtending pedicel absent; pedicel at anthesis to 0.5 mm long, with hairs.
Flower bisexual, ± radial, 7—8 mm across; calyx deeply 5–lobed, fused only at base, hispid having hairs with swollen bases (pustulate), shorter hairs, and glandular hairs; lobes subequal, linear, 5—5.5 mm long, inner surface short–hispid; corolla 5–lobed, somewhat trumpet–shaped, ca. 9 mm long, in bud with dimple opposite each calyx lobe; tube cylindric, < 1 × 2 mm, white; throat cylindric and above midpoint flaring, ca. 2.5 mm diameter at orifice, light yellow with fine violet veins, short–pilose from midpoint to upper throat; limbs violet with darker veins, lobes widely spreading, semicircular to somewhat rectangular, 2 × 3—3.5 mm; stamens 5, fused at different levels in corolla throat, the lowest < 1 mm from base; filaments 2.2—3 mm long, pale yellow; anthers dorsifixed, dithecal, inserted (not reaching purple of corolla), arrow–shaped, 0.9—1.1 mm long, pale yellow, longitudinally dehiscent; pollen pale yellow; nectary disc at base of ovary, 0.3 mm long, dark green; pistil 1, included, to 4.5 mm long (not to level of calyx lobes); ovary superior, narrowly ovoid somewhat 5–lobed, ca. 1.4 × 0.6 mm, green, short–hairy, appearing 1–chambered with many ovules attached to center; style 1 but deeply 2–branched essentially to base, branches suberect, cylindric, light yellow, with several hairs near base, style persistent and aging purple–red; stigmas above levels of anthers, hemispheroid.
Fruit loculicidal, somewhat concealed to midpoint of calyx, 2–valved, to 12–seeded, ellipsoid, 2.1—2.4 × 1.1—1.3 mm, gray–brown, valves sometimes with slightly bulging seeds, short–hairy; calyx hispid with scattered glandular hairs.
Seed ± ellipsoid, ca. 0.4 × 0.25 mm, grayish white to tannish, honeycombed.
A. C. Gibson