Bernardia incana

Western bernardia

Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Western bernardia is a California native shrub found in southern Desert Mountains and Desert Sonoran bioregions in rocky washes and canyons at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from April to May and October to November, this plant produces white flowers with small staminate clusters and solitary pistillate blooms. Growing to less than 2.5 meters tall with hairy stems and branches, it has a distinctive glandular appearance. Its leaves are small, elliptic, and 0.5 to 3 centimeters long with crenate margins and obtuse or rounded tips. The fruit is a tomentose capsule approximately 8 to 10 millimeters in diameter, containing smooth seeds with ribbed backs.

Habitat: Washes, rocky canyons

Bloom period: Apr-May, Oct--Nov

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: s DMoj, DSon

California counties: Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino

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