Cryptantha nevadensis

Nevada cryptantha

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Nevada cryptantha is a California native annual found in southwestern desert regions including the Mojave and Colorado deserts in sandy, gravelly soils of creosote-bush scrub and mixed desert woodland at elevations of 60 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from February to July, this plant produces small white flowers with minute appendages in delicate clusters. Growing 10 to 60 centimeters tall with flexuous stems that often become sprawling and supported by surrounding vegetation, it develops densely strigose stems with soft, bristly hairs. Its linear leaves measure 0.5 to 5 centimeters long, covered in appressed soft bristles with distinctive bulbous-based hairs. The fruit consists of 3 or 4 lance-ovate nutlets approximately 2 millimeters long, unevenly covered with coarse tubercles oriented toward the tapered tip.

Habitat: Sandy, gravelly soils, slopes, washes, generally creosote-bush scrub, mixed desert woodland

Bloom period: Feb-Jul

Elevation: 60-2220(2750) m

California counties: San Bernardino, San Diego, Kern, Riverside, Inyo, Monterey, San Benito, Los Angeles, Mono, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Merced, Stanislaus, Fresno, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Imperial, Alameda, Tuolumne, Santa Barbara

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