Centranthus ruber

Red valerian, Red Valerian

Family: Valerianaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Red valerian is a naturalized perennial found in southern coastal, Klamath, North Coast, Sierra Nevada foothill, Central Valley, central coastal, San Francisco Bay, and southwestern California regions in disturbed places, rock or wall crevices, and roadsides at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces purple-red, occasionally lavender or white flowers with a distinctive 3 to 6 millimeter spur. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 30 to 90 centimeters tall that are hollow and often branched, it has a woody base and a glaucous appearance. Its leaves range from 5 to 8 centimeters long, with widely oblong to lance-elliptic blades that are entire and occasionally lobed at the base, with lower leaves petioled and upper leaves sessile. The glabrous fruit is 3 to 4 millimeters long.

Habitat: Disturbed places, rock or wall crevices, roadsides

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: s NCo, KR, NCoRO, SNF, GV, CCo, SnFrB, SW, cultivated elsewhere

California counties: Orange, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Riverside, Yolo, Alameda, San Francisco, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Marin, San Diego, Trinity, Amador, Butte, Sacramento, Humboldt, Mendocino, San Luis Obispo, Napa, Solano

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