Capsella bursa-pastoris

Shepherd's purse

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Shepherd's purse is a naturalized annual found throughout California in disturbed areas at elevations below 2,800 meters. Flowering from January to October, this plant produces small white (occasionally pink) flowers with delicate obovate petals 2 to 4 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall, it can be simple or branched toward the top and features distinctive stellate hairs with three to five rays. Its leaves are notably variable, with basal leaves 3 to 6 centimeters long that are oblanceolate and may be entire or pinnately lobed, while stem leaves are oblong to linear in shape. The plant produces small triangular fruits 4 to 9 millimeters long with a wedge-shaped base and slender spreading pedicels.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jan-Oct

Elevation: < 2800 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Trinity, Calaveras, Kern, Los Angeles, Yolo, Orange, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Madera, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Tulare, Ventura, Amador, Butte, Lake, Merced, Santa Clara, Nevada, Lassen, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Stanislaus, Inyo, San Mateo, Mariposa, Alameda, Placer, Colusa, Kings, Sacramento, Solano, Mono, Sutter, Mendocino, Tuolumne, Modoc, Monterey, Sierra, Napa, Imperial, Plumas, Del Norte, Siskiyou, San Benito, Marin, Alpine, Humboldt, Tehama, Yuba

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