Camissoniopsis luciae

Santa lucia sun cup

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Santa lucia sun cup is a California native annual herb found in the southern Coast Ranges of Monterey County in openings within chaparral at elevations of 300 to 1,400 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces yellow flowers with a single basal spot, approximately 4 to 7 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems less than 60 centimeters tall, it forms a dense rosette with spreading hairs. Its cauline leaves are widely lanceolate to narrowly oblong, 13 to 55 millimeters long, with minute teeth and sessile attachment. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule 15 to 20 millimeters long, drying with roughly four angles and capable of straightening or coiling slightly.

Habitat: Openings in chaparral

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 300-1400 m

Bioregions: SCoRO (Monterey Co.).

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