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Pima Rhatany
Krameria erecta
  
About Pima Rhatany (Krameria erecta) 0 Nurseries Carry This Plant Krameria erecta is a species of rhatany known by several common names, including Pima rhatany, purple heather, and littleleaf rhatany. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in dry areas such as desert flats and chaparral slopes. This is a small, tangled shrub under a meter in height with blunt, thorny branches covered in silky hairs and fuzzy linear leaves. The shrub flowers in the spring and again in the fall during wetter years. The showy flower has four or five bright pink cup-shaped sepals and usually five smaller, triangular petals which are pink with green bases. The three upper petals are held erect and the lower two are glandular structures next to the ovary. Next to these are four curving stamens. The fruit is a furry heart-shaped body covered in pink spines. It reproduces by seed. This species and others in its genus are root parasites, tapping the tissues of nearby plants for nutrients, especially water. This helps it survive in soil that is almost totally dry.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
1 - 3.3 ft tall

Form
Form
Rounded

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Slow

Flower Color
Flower Color
Pink, Purple, Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 2 confirmed ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Soil Description
Soil Description
Prefers sandy or loamy soils. Does not grow well in clay soils.

Natural Setting
Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 2.6" - 46.5", Summer Precipitation: 0.25" - 3.11", Coldest Month: 39.3" - 63.5", Hottest Month: 61.8" - 88.8", Humidity: 2.01" - 42.79", Elevation: 53" - 7763"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Little-leaved Ratany, Little-leaved Rhatany, Littleleaf Ratany, Littleleaf Rhatany, Purple Heather


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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