Crupina vulgaris

Bearded creeper

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Bearded creeper is a naturalized annual found in southern North Coast Ranges, particularly Sonoma County and the Modoc Plateau, in grassy places at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces small flowers with delicate white to pale purple corollas approximately 14 millimeters long. Growing with leafy stems 20 to 100 centimeters tall that branch extensively, it has distinctive sessile leaves with linear lobes that are minutely toothed. Its basal leaves are oblong to obovate and slightly rough-textured, while cauline leaves are smaller and more narrow. The fruit is a distinctive barrel-shaped structure 3 to 4 millimeters long, with black-brown bristles up to 7 millimeters extending from its surface.

Habitat: Grassy places

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: s NCoR (Sonoma Co.), MP

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