Camissonia pusilla

Little wiry sun cup

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Little wiry sun cup is a California native annual found on the northern slope of the San Bernardino Mountains, Great Basin, and scattered areas of the Mojave Desert in sandy sagebrush scrub habitats at elevations of 760 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from May to June, this delicate plant produces yellow flowers that fade to reddish tones, with small basal spots and petals 1.8 to 3.1 millimeters long. Growing with slender, erect stems 2 to 22 centimeters tall and covered in glandular hairs, it has a distinctive sparse and wiry appearance. Its narrow leaves measure 10 to 30 millimeters long, linear in shape with fine, minute serrations along the edges. The plant produces elongated fruits 18 to 32 millimeters long that can appear slightly swollen with seeds and may be straight or gently wavy.

Habitat: Sandy soils, generally sagebrush scrub

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 760-3000 m

Bioregions: n slope SnBr (Cactus Flats), GB, DMoj (scattered)

California counties: San Bernardino, Kern, Tulare, Inyo, Mono, San Luis Obispo, Modoc, Los Angeles, Lassen, Sierra

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