Cryptantha hispidula

Napa cryptantha

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Napa cryptantha is a California native annual herb found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Coast Ranges in semi-barren gravelly outcrops, serpentine areas, chaparral, and foothill woodland at elevations of 200 to 950 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small white flowers with yellow appendages in delicate cymes. Growing 10 to 40 centimeters tall with slender, generally erect stems that are sparsely covered in stiff, spreading hairs, it has a distinctive sparse and bristly appearance. Its narrow linear leaves, 0.5 to 2 centimeters long, are sparsely covered with fine, bulbous-based bristles that give the plant a rough texture. The fruit consists of smooth, shiny nutlets 1.7 to 2.2 millimeters long, typically mottled gray-brown with a lance-ovate shape.

Habitat: Locally common. Semi-barren gravelly outcrops, slopes, serpentine endemic, chaparral, foothill woodland

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 200-950 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRI.

California counties: Lake, Napa, Colusa, Trinity, El Dorado, Tehama, Mendocino, Solano, Sonoma

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