Crassula solieri

Little pygmy weed

Family: Crassulaceae · Type: annual · Native

Little pygmy weed is a California native annual found in the northern Coast Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Great Valley, southern California coastal areas, and Peninsular Ranges in vernal pools and lake or pond margins at elevations below 2,100 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces small white to pale pink flowers less than 1.5 millimeters long, nestled individually at each leaf node. Growing with delicate decumbent or erect stems 2 to 7 centimeters tall that branch subtly, the plant forms compact clusters in wet habitats. Its tiny leaves are oblong to linear, measuring 1 to 5 millimeters long with slightly blunt tips, creating a dense, miniature ground-hugging appearance. The fruit produces 6 to 14 shiny, elliptic-oblong seeds with distinctive irregular longitudinal lines that glisten as if wet.

Habitat: Vernal pools, margins of lakes, ponds

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 2100 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, CaRF, n SNF, GV, SCo, PR

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