Damasonium californicum

California damsonium

Family: Alismataceae · Type: perennial · Native

California damsonium is a California native perennial found in northern California Interior Coast Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada Foothills, Great Valley, northwestern San Francisco Bay Area, and northern North Coast Ranges in ponds, vernal pools, and streams at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering in late summer, this plant produces white flowers with yellow basal spots and red anthers. Growing with delicate stems reaching up to 35 centimeters tall, it emerges from wet seasonal habitats. Its leaves are linear to narrowly ovate, typically 3 to 9 centimeters long and 0.5 to 3 centimeters wide, often longer than their supporting stems. The fruit develops a distinctive body 3 to 5.5 millimeters long with a slender beak extending 3 to 6 millimeters.

Habitat: Ponds, vernal pools, streams

Bloom period: Late summer

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, n SNF, GV, nw SnFrB, MP

California counties: Mendocino, Sacramento, Lassen, Placer, Butte, Plumas, Merced, Sutter, Yolo, Marin, Solano, Colusa, Modoc, San Joaquin, Glenn, Sonoma, Tehama, Sierra, Yuba, Kern, Mariposa, San Mateo, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Lake, Shasta, Stanislaus, Napa, Amador, Calaveras

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