Darmera peltata

Indian rhubarb

Family: Saxifragaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Indian rhubarb is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada Foothills, and Sierra Nevada in rocky streambanks at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces white to pink flowers in flat-topped clusters that emerge before its leaves. Growing with large basal stems 30 to 150 centimeters tall, it develops a fleshy, scaly rhizome. Its distinctive peltate leaves are massive, over 10 centimeters wide, roughly round with deep lobes and irregular teeth. The plant produces two-chambered follicle fruits 8 to 12 millimeters long.

Habitat: Rocky streambanks

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: KR, n NCoRO (Humboldt Co.), CaR, n SNF, SNH

California counties: Siskiyou, Butte, Mariposa, Plumas, Placer, Trinity, Tuolumne, Fresno, Shasta, Sierra, Madera, Tulare, Humboldt, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mendocino, Nevada, Merced, Tehama, Yuba

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