Chorizanthe membranacea

Pink spineflower

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Pink spineflower is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada foothills, Tehama County, Central Valley, central western California, and northern Western Transverse Ranges in sandy, gravelly, or rocky habitats at elevations of 40 to 1,400 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces white to rose-colored flowers in dense, rounded clusters with distinctive disk-like membranes connecting flower lobes. Growing with erect stems 10 to 60 centimeters tall and densely hairy branches that ascend from the main stem, it has a distinctive branching structure. Its narrow linear to oblanceolate leaves are 1.5 to 5 centimeters long, with a woolly texture on the underside. The plant's unique involucre features six equal lobes with scarious margins, creating an intricate white to pink membrane between flower clusters.

Habitat: Common. Sand, gravel or rocks

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 40-1400 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SNF, Teh, GV, CW, n WTR

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Tehama, Kern, Tuolumne, Butte, Tulare, San Benito, Madera, Santa Barbara, Lake, Trinity, Stanislaus, Monterey, Santa Clara, Yolo, Mariposa, Siskiyou, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Napa, Sutter, Merced, Santa Cruz, Ventura, Solano, El Dorado, Colusa, Placer, Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Mendocino, Sacramento, Shasta, Nevada, Sonoma, Glenn, San Diego

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