Cryptantha muricata var. denticulata
Prickly-nut cryptantha
Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native
Prickly-nut cryptantha is a California native annual found on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Tehachapi Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, northeastern Peninsular Ranges, northern eastern Sierra Nevada, southern White and Inyo Mountains, and Deserts in gravelly, generally granitic soils of open conifer forest and sagebrush scrub at elevations of 1,800 to 2,770 meters. Flowering from April to August, this plant produces pale yellow flowers with small corolla limbs approximately 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter. Growing 10 to 40 centimeters tall with generally a single stem and few long, laxly-ascending branches, it has sparse strigose and soft hairs with conspicuously spreading rough hairiness. Its scattered leaves are sparingly covered with appressed soft hairs and spreading rough bristles, creating a distinctively textured appearance. The fruits are small nutlets 1.8 to 2 millimeters long with low tubercles and triangular bases that are slightly flared and gapped.
Habitat: Locally common, gravelly soils, generally granitic, open conifer forest, often sagebrush scrub (or desert scrub)
Bloom period: Apr-Aug
Elevation: 1800-2770 m
Bioregions: e slope SNH, Teh, SnGb, SnBr, ne PR, n SNE, s W&I, D
California counties: San Bernardino, Ventura, Los Angeles, Mono, Alpine, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Monterey, Mariposa, Inyo, Tulare, Kern, El Dorado
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.