Agrostemma githago var. githago

Corn-cockle

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Corn-cockle is a naturalized annual found in northern Sierra Nevada, Santa Clara Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern California coastal regions in disturbed areas at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from spring to summer, this plant produces striking purple-red flowers with obovate petals extending 10 to 20 millimeters beyond the green sepals. Growing 30 to 90 centimeters tall with dense, long, silky hairs that are somewhat appressed, the plant has a simple or sparingly branched stem. Its leaves reach 5 to 15 centimeters long, with an inflorescence that remains leafy throughout its growth. The seeds are widely ovate, measuring 3 to 3.5 millimeters with thin, triangular surface tubercles.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Spring-summer

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, n SN, ScV, SnFrB, SCo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.