Cryptantha crinita

Silky cryptantha, Silky Cryptantha

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Silky cryptantha is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in the Shasta and Tehama counties in rocky volcanic flats and gravelly streambanks of foothill woodlands at elevations of 90 to 1,120 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces yellow-appendaged white flowers in small cymes. Growing 10 to 40 centimeters tall with many branches covered in rough, appressed to ascending hairs, it develops an intricate, somewhat bristly appearance. Its narrow leaves, 1 to 4 centimeters long and oblanceolate to oblong, are densely covered with rough hairs, some with bulbous bases. The fruit consists of a single lance-ovate nutlet about 2.3 to 2.8 millimeters long, brown and densely papillate with a rounded margin.

Habitat: Rocky volcanic flats, gravelly streambanks, gravel bars, generally foothill woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: 90-1120 m

Bioregions: CaR (Shasta, Tehama cos.).

California counties: Shasta, Tehama, Butte

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