About Zeltnera namatophila (Reveal, C.R.Broome & Beatley) G.Mans.
Zeltnera namatophila is an annual herb that grows a branching stem reaching up to 45 centimeters tall. This species blooms in the summer heat, from July through September. Its flowers are roughly one centimeter wide, with a deep pink corolla that is yellow-tinged in the throat. It produces fruit in the form of a capsule that holds around 50 seeds, and a single plant can produce many such capsules. Zeltnera namatophila is thought to be a ruderal species: it produces many tiny seeds that spread and germinate in disturbed habitat in a weedlike pattern, and the seeds likely persist for a long time in the soil seed bank. This plant is endemic to Ash Meadows, located in the Amargosa Desert directly east of Death Valley National Park. It was recorded growing in California in 1978, but no new, confirmed occurrences of the species have been found there in recent times. It grows in moist and wet soils within Ash Meadows wetlands. The soil where it grows has a high clay content, a high pH, and accumulated salts left behind when water evaporates in the desert air. This species can be found in saltgrass meadows made up of Distichlis spicata, and it grows alongside streams, springs, and seeps. Other plant species that grow in the same area include Ash Meadows gumplant (Grindelia fraxino-pratensis), Emory baccharis (Baccharis emoryi), and Tecopa bird's beak (Cordylanthus tecopensis).
