Castilleja exserta subsp. exserta

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Purple owl's clover is a California native annual found in northwestern California, Sierra Nevada foothills, Great Valley, central western California, southwestern California, and western Mojave Desert regions in open fields and grasslands at elevations below 1,600 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces pale yellow to rose and purple flowers with white-tipped bracts in distinctive narrow inflorescences. Growing with slender upright stems that branch from the base, it reaches heights of 10 to 40 centimeters with a delicate, open growth habit. Its leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, alternately arranged along the stem, typically 2 to 6 centimeters long and divided into thin, linear segments. The flower bracts are particularly striking, with lobes over 2 millimeters long and colored in soft gradients of pale yellow, rose, and purple.

Habitat: Open fields, grassland

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 1600 m

Bioregions: NW, SNF, GV, CW, SW, w DMoj

California counties: Kern, Riverside, Tulare, Colusa, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Santa Clara, Monterey, Santa Barbara, El Dorado, Contra Costa, Trinity, Merced, Lake, Glenn, Butte, Tehama, Madera, San Joaquin, San Benito, Amador, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Tuolumne, Napa, Mariposa, Solano, Sonoma, Calaveras, Sutter, Humboldt, Stanislaus, Sacramento, Nevada, San Mateo, Yolo, Mendocino, Plumas, Marin

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