Chorizanthe diffusa

Diffuse spineflower

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Diffuse spineflower is a California native perennial found in coastal and western San Francisco Bay regions, including central coastal and western South Coast Ranges, in sandy or gravelly habitats at elevations of 30 to 800 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces white and lemon-yellow flowers with distinctive white or yellow tips in small clusters near branch tips. Growing as a low-mounded or mat-forming plant with prostrate or spreading branches reaching 10 to 20 centimeters in diameter, it develops from a short, erect stem with hairy texture. Its basal leaves are narrow and oblanceolate, measuring 3 to 20 millimeters long and less than 4 millimeters wide. The plant's unique involucre features six lobes with white to pink-purple scarious margins, creating an intricate structural detail at its branch tips.

Habitat: Common. Sand or gravel

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 30-800 m

Bioregions: CCo, w SnFrB, w SCoRO.

California counties: Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, San Mateo, Kern

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