Calyptridium monospermum

One seeded pussypaws

Family: Montiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

One seeded pussypaws is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, Transverse Ranges, San Jacinto Mountains, and Great Basin in open areas, sandy or gravelly soils, and conifer forest at elevations of 300 to 3,970 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces delicate rose to white flowers in loose umbels up to 10 centimeters in diameter. Growing with spreading to ascending stems less than 50 centimeters tall, it forms a short, thick caudex with a slender to thick taproot. Its basal leaves form a single rosette 1.5 to 6 centimeters long, with additional smaller cauline leaves 0.8 to 3 centimeters long. The fruit is 2 to 3.5 millimeters wide, widely ovate to nearly round, containing one to four seeds.

Habitat: Open areas, sandy or gravelly soils, conifer forest

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: 300-3970 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaR, SN, SnFrB, TR, SnJt, GB

California counties: El Dorado, Fresno, Riverside, Tulare, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Alpine, Calaveras, Kern, Mono, Placer, Sierra, Trinity, Amador, Nevada, Shasta, Tuolumne, Lake, Inyo, Plumas, Butte, Siskiyou, Lassen, Tehama, Madera, Mendocino, Yuba, Humboldt, Mariposa, Santa Cruz, Colusa, Ventura, Modoc, Glenn, Del Norte, Napa

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