Claytonia palustris

Marsh claytonia, Marsh Claytonia

Family: Montiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Marsh claytonia is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, and southern Sierra Nevada in marshy meadows, springs, and streambanks at elevations of 1,000 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces delicate white to pale pink flowers 5 to 9 millimeters long in small clusters of 5 to 18 blooms. Growing with slender spreading to erect stems 10 to 60 centimeters tall, it develops a short horizontal white caudex with thin rhizomes and bulb-like buds. Its leaves are distinctive, with basal blades 2 to 8 centimeters long, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, and cauline leaves that are oblanceolate to widely elliptic, ranging from 2 to 9 centimeters in length. The tiny fruits are 2 to 3 millimeters long, containing round seeds about 1.5 to 1.8 millimeters in diameter.

Habitat: Marshy meadows, springs, streambanks

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 1000-2500 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH.

California counties: Tulare, Butte, Fresno, Tehama, Plumas, Siskiyou, Trinity

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