Dianthus nudiflorus
Velezia
Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Not Native
Velezia is a naturalized annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Central Valley, and San Francisco Bay Area in oak woodlands, open ridges, and gravelly streambeds at elevations of 100 to 800 meters. Flowering from spring to early summer, this plant produces pink to purple flowers with delicate petals 11 to 16 millimeters long. Growing 7 to 40 centimeters tall with widely spreading to erect branches that are repeatedly two-forked and rigid, it has a distinctive glandular-hairy appearance. Its linear to awl-shaped leaves are 5 to 20 millimeters long, with three veins and ciliate margins that are scarious near the base. The distinctive calyx is 1 to 1.4 centimeters long with 15 prominent ribs and a swollen, hardened base.
Habitat: Oak woodland, open ridges, gravelly streambeds, serpentine
Bloom period: Spring-early summer
Elevation: 100-800 m
Bioregions: KR, NCoRI, n&c SNF, GV, SnFrB
California counties: Fresno, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Butte, Glenn, El Dorado, Humboldt, Calaveras, Colusa, Mariposa, Placer, Sacramento, Tehama, Napa, Alameda, Santa Clara, Lake
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.