Castilleja rubicundula subsp. lithospermoides

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Red owl's clover is a California native annual found in northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range foothills, central Coast, and San Francisco Bay Area in open grassland at elevations below 900 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with distinctive tubular corollas. Growing with delicate, upright stems reaching 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it emerges as a slender, fragile annual herb. Its leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, alternating along the stem with fine, linear divisions. In its delicate form, red owl's clover adds subtle color to coastal and foothill grassland ecosystems during the spring flowering season.

Habitat: Open grassland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 900 m

Bioregions: NCoR, CaRF, CCo, SnFrB

California counties: Lake, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, Colusa, Marin, Contra Costa, Tehama, Solano, Napa, Humboldt, Mendocino, Alameda, Sonoma, San Mateo, Merced, Monterey, Butte, Santa Cruz, Trinity, Shasta, Placer, Modoc, Yolo, El Dorado, Yuba

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