Cordylanthus kingii subsp. helleri

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Kingii's owl-clover is a California native annual found in southern Modoc Plateau and southeastern Sierra Nevada in open pinyon and juniper woodlands and sagebrush scrub at elevations of 1,200 to 3,200 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces rosy-lavender to dull purple-red flowers 15 to 25 millimeters long with a distinctively glandular-sticky inflorescence. Growing 10 to 60 centimeters tall with a gray-green stem tinged with red, it has an erect and branching form. Its leaves are generally linear, 10 to 25 millimeters long, arranged along the stem with a delicate, sparse structure. The plant produces small ovoid seeds approximately 2 to 2.5 millimeters long with a deeply netted pale brown surface.

Habitat: Open pinyon/juniper woodland, sagebrush scrub

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: 1200-3200 m

Bioregions: s MP, SNE

California counties: Mono, Inyo, Lassen

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