Claytonia obovata

Rydberg's spring beauty

Family: Montiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Rydberg's spring beauty is a California native perennial found in subalpine forest openings on north-facing stony slopes of sedimentary and mafic rock formations at elevations ranging from mid to high mountain zones. Flowering from April to July, this delicate plant produces white to pinkish flowers with faint pink veins and yellow bases, each petal 5 to 7.5 millimeters long. Growing with slender erect stems 3.5 to 8.5 centimeters tall, it develops a spheric tuberous root 0.7 to 2 centimeters wide, sometimes narrowed at the tip where aerial stems emerge. Its leaves are distinctively colored dark green on top and beet-red underneath, with two cauline leaves that are elliptic to ovate, 7.5 to 22 millimeters long and asymmetrically based. This small alpine plant has delicate flowers that emerge from a single terminal inflorescence, creating a subtle but charming display in high mountain habitats.

Habitat: Openings of subalpine forest, generally on north-facing, stony and talus slopes of sedimentary (or metasedimentary) (e.g. grey-wacke, limestone, shale) or mafic (e.g. gabbro, peridotite, serpentinite) rocks and derived soils

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

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