Cryptantha catalinensis

Santa catalina island cryptantha

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Santa catalina island cryptantha is a California native annual found in coastal sage scrub and grasslands of the Channel Islands at elevations of 30 to 140 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces white to yellow flowers with delicate petals approximately 4 to 6 millimeters in diameter. Growing 10 to 50 centimeters tall with a few erect to decumbent branches, it has densely hairy stems with both appressed and spreading short rough hairs. Its narrow linear leaves are 1.5 to 2 centimeters long, covered with minutely bulbous-based hairs on the upper surface and coarse bristly hairs on the lower surface. The plant produces four nutlets that are lance-ovate, brown, and 1.7 to 2.1 millimeters long, with a distinctive papillate and tubercled surface.

Habitat: Coastal sage scrub and grasslands

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 30-140 m

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