Camissonia sierrae

Sierra sun cup

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Sierra sun cup is a California native annual found in mountainous regions, typically growing in rocky or open habitats at elevations of 1,500 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from April to June, this delicate plant produces bright yellow flowers that fade to reddish tones, with petals 2 to 7 millimeters long. Growing with slender, decumbent to ascending stems less than 15 centimeters tall that have peeling bark and coarse spreading hairs, it has a distinctive branching habit. Its narrow leaves are 5 to 18 millimeters long, lanceolate to elliptic in shape, with few or minimal teeth along the margins. The plant produces elongated fruits 20 to 30 millimeters long that are slightly swollen with seeds, creating an intricate seed dispersal mechanism.

California counties: Madera, Tuolumne

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