Caulanthus californicus

California jewelflower

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

California jewelflower is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in southern San Joaquin Valley and western Transverse Ranges in non-alkaline grassland flats and slopes at elevations of 70 to 1,000 meters. Flowering from February to April, this plant produces nearly white flowers with purple veins, 5.5 to 12 millimeters long with wavy margins. Growing 0.9 to 5.5 decimeters tall with decumbent to erect stems that are generally branched in the upper portions, it has a distinctive growth pattern. Its leaves form a basal rosette 1 to 11 centimeters long, oblanceolate and coarsely dentate, with cauline leaves that are sessile, ovate to nearly round, and ranging from entire to coarsely dentate. The fruit is an elongated silique 1.7 to 5 centimeters long, ascending to reflexed, with 46 to 100 small spheric seeds.

Habitat: Flats, slopes, generally in non-alkaline grassland

Bloom period: Feb-Apr

Elevation: 70-1000 m

Bioregions: s SnJV, WTR.

California counties: Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Fresno, Kings, Ventura

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