Cryptantha pterocarya

Winged nut forget me not

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Winged nut forget-me-not is a California native annual found in rocky or disturbed areas at elevations of 5 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces small white flowers less than 3 millimeters in diameter with delicate, nearly transparent petals. Growing with slender green to grayish stems 5 to 50 centimeters tall, the plant develops sparse branching with ascending and spreading hairs. Its leaves are narrow and linear, 0.5 to 4 centimeters long, covered in stiff, strigose hairs with occasionally spreading margins. The distinctive fruit consists of 3 to 4 nutlets with lobed wing margins, ranging from gray to brown and featuring a glossy, lance-shaped surface.

California counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Inyo, Riverside, Kern, San Luis Obispo, Imperial, San Diego, Mono, Alameda, Lassen, Merced, Tulare, Ventura, 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.