Caulanthus lemmonii

Lemmon's jewelflower

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Lemmon's jewelflower is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in southwestern San Joaquin Valley, southeastern San Francisco Bay, eastern Coast Ranges, and southwestern Coast Ranges in grassland, chaparral, and scrub habitats at elevations of 80 to 1,100 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces white flowers with dark purple veins, 8 to 20 millimeters long with wavy margins. Growing 1 to 8 decimeters tall with branched stems that are bristly near the base and becoming glabrous towards the top, it develops distinctive branching patterns. Its leaves range from oblanceolate basal leaves with coarse teeth to narrow cauline leaves that are lanceolate with lobed or clasping bases. The erect fruits are cylindrical, 5 to 12 centimeters long with a strongly two-lobed stigma, containing 52 to 72 small ovoid seeds.

Habitat: Grassland, chaparral, scrub

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 80-1100 m

Bioregions: sw SnJV, se SnFrB, e SCoRO, SCoRI.

California counties: Alameda, San Luis Obispo, Kings, Kern, Stanislaus, Monterey, San Joaquin, Ventura, San Benito, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino

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