Bensoniella oregona

Bensoniella

Family: Saxifragaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Bensoniella is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in northern Coast Ranges of California, specifically Humboldt County and potentially the Klamath Ranges, inhabiting wet meadows and bogs at elevations above 750 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces distinctive white to reddish flowers with narrow, recurved petals and glandular spike-like racemes. Growing 20 to 40 centimeters tall with a scaly rhizome and erect stems, it develops dense clusters of long brown hairs. Its basal leaves are round-ovate, 4 to 20 centimeters long, with a heart-shaped base and uneven scalloped edges, appearing nearly smooth on top with hairy veins underneath. The fruit develops as a unique splash cup-forming capsule that opens before seeds mature, containing red-brown to black seeds.

Habitat: Wet meadows, bogs

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: > 750 m

Bioregions: n NCoRO (Humboldt Co.), expected KR

California counties: Humboldt

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