Cryptantha muricata var. jonesii

Jones's cryptantha

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Jones's cryptantha is a California native annual found in the North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehachapi, eastern Sacramento Valley, Central Western, southwestern California, and desert regions in rocky, gravelly coastal scrub, chaparral, and foothill woodland habitats at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces pale yellow to white flowers with early-deciduous petals. Growing up to one meter tall with a central stem and many short, stiffly angled branches, it is densely covered in strigose and spreading rough hairs. Its numerous leaves become reduced toward the plant's upper portions, densely covered in soft and spreading rough hairs. The fruit consists of small, approximately brown nutlets with coarse tubercles, each measuring 1.1 to 1.3 millimeters with an acute tip.

Habitat: Rocky, gravelly soils, coastal scrub, chaparral, foothill woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: NCoR, SNF, Teh, e ScV, CW, SW, D

California counties: Los Angeles, Riverside, Marin, San Diego, San Bernardino, Fresno, Mariposa, Ventura, Orange, Tulare, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Sonoma, Kern, Inyo, Mendocino, Tehama, Monterey, Alpine, Santa Clara, Glenn, Siskiyou, Trinity, San Luis Obispo, Imperial, Napa, Yolo, Lake

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