The name Monardella purpurea means little purple Monarda. Monarda is named for Nicolas Monardes, A Renaissance Spanish physician and botanist. The leaves are green or green flushed with purple; everything else (stems, bracts, calyx lobes, and corolla) is purple. Bracts are modified leaf-like structures that subtend the flower head. The calyx is the hairy ring of fused sepals that envelops the flower tube at its base.
DISTRIBUTION: Uncommon on rocky slopes (often serpentine), chaparral, woodland, and montane forests from the Klamath and Outer North Coast Ranges to the San Francisco Bay Area and Outer South Coast Ranges; 400-1400 m.
