Cardionema ramosissimum

Sandmat

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Sandmat is a California native perennial found in coastal bioregions including northern California Coast, central California Coast, southern California Coast, northern Channel Islands, and Peninsular Ranges in sandy beach, hill, and dune habitats at elevations below 400 meters. Flowering from spring to early summer, this plant produces small white flowers with incurved sepal margins. Growing with slender branching stems 5 to 30 centimeters tall and often covered by stipules, it spreads in low, delicate clusters. Its leaves are 5 to 13 millimeters long, finely spine-tipped, and glabrous, creating a fine, intricate texture across sandy surfaces. The tiny seeds are narrowly ovate, measuring 1.4 to 1.6 millimeters long.

Habitat: Sandy beaches, hills, dunes, bluffs

Bloom period: Spring-early summer

Elevation: < 400 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SCo, n ChI, PR

California counties: San Diego, Orange, Monterey, Del Norte, San Francisco, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Marin, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, San Mateo, Ventura

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