Ammannia coccinea

Purple ammannia

Family: Lythraceae · Type: annual · Native

Purple ammannia is a California native annual found in the Central Valley, Sierra Foothills, Coast Ranges, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern deserts in wet places, drying pond margins, and creek edges at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces small, delicate flowers in deep red to purple tones with bright yellow stamens. Growing with slender stems 10 to 100 centimeters tall, it spreads in moist seasonal habitats with an open, branching structure. Its narrow leaves are 2 to 8 centimeters long and 2 to 15 millimeters wide, arranged oppositely along the stem. The tiny flowers feature 2 to 4 petals and deep yellow anthers, creating subtle clusters of 3 to 5 blossoms.

Habitat: Wet places, drying ponds, lake, creek margins

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: CaRF, SNF, GV, CCo, SnFrB, SCoRO, SW, DSon

California counties: Butte, Riverside, Tulare, Ventura, Los Angeles, Colusa, Lake, Santa Barbara, Kern, Fresno, Sutter, Stanislaus, Kings, Marin, Glenn, San Diego, Imperial, San Bernardino, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Tehama, Yolo, Madera, Yuba, Merced, Alameda, Amador, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Mariposa, Sacramento, Santa Cruz

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