Cressa truxillensis

Alkali weed

Family: Convolvulaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Alkali weed is a California native perennial found in the Great Valley, central western California, southern California coastal areas, Channel Islands, Great Basin, and desert regions on saline and alkaline substrates at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from May to October, this plant produces delicate white flowers 5 to 8 millimeters long with ovate, acute lobes. Growing as a tufted plant with much-branched stems 7 to 25 centimeters tall, it features densely silky-canescent stems that spread from the base. Its leaves are small, less than 1 centimeter long, sessile and elliptic in shape. The plant often produces a single seed and has distinctive white flowers with exserted stamens and styles.

Habitat: Saline and alkaline substrates

Bloom period: May-Oct

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: GV, CW (exc SCoRO), SCo, ChI, GB (exc Wrn, W&ampI), D (exc DMtns)

California counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Inyo, Orange, Riverside, Contra Costa, Lassen, Sutter, Kern, Ventura, San Diego, Modoc, Fresno, San Joaquin, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Alameda, Santa Barbara, Yolo, Imperial, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Tulare, Colusa, Kings, Merced, Marin, Solano, Butte, Glenn, Napa, San Benito, Stanislaus, Sacramento, Monterey

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