Diplacus brandegeei

Santa cruz island monkeyflower

Family: Phrymaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1A

Santa cruz island monkeyflower is a rare (CNPS 1A) California native annual found in the northern and southern Channel Islands including Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Islands in rocky places at elevations below 150 meters. Flowering from March to April, this plant produces magenta flowers with a yellow throat featuring two prominent yellow folds, creating a striking color contrast. Growing diminutively at 1 to 10 centimeters tall with puberulent to hairy stems, it forms a delicate and compact botanical structure. Its leaves are elliptic to ovate, 6 to 39 millimeters long, with ciliate edges in the lower half and a distinctive purplish underside. The plant's small fruit is oblique and angled, measuring 6 to 11 millimeters long and remaining hard and indehiscent.

Habitat: Presumed extirpated in California. Rocky places

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: < 150 m

Bioregions: n ChI (Santa Cruz Island), s ChI (Santa Catalina Island)

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