Cryptantha excavata

Deep-scarred cryptantha

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Deep-scarred cryptantha is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in southern North Coast Ranges Inland in steep, sandy, gravelly slopes and foothill woodland at elevations of 100 to 600 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small white flowers with yellow appendages in tiny clusters. Growing 5 to 30 centimeters tall with branches sparingly distributed throughout its stem, it features strigose stems covered in appressed soft hairs. Its leaves are narrow and oblong, ranging from 0.6 to 3 centimeters long, with rough hairs and bristles that have distinctive bulbous bases. The fruit consists of lance-ovate nutlets 2 to 2.4 millimeters long with a deep, triangular attachment scar that creates a unique cavity-like impression.

Habitat: Steep, sandy, gravelly slopes, soils, dry streambanks, eroding sandstone or shale, foothill woodland

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 100-600 m

Bioregions: s NCoRI.

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