Downingia bicornuta var. picta

Doublehorn calicoflower

Family: Campanulaceae · Type: annual · Native

Doublehorn calicoflower is a California native annual found in northern Sierra Nevada Foothills, Sacramento Valley, and northern San Joaquin Valley in vernal pools, roadside ditches, and lake margins at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from April to July, this delicate plant produces light blue or pale yellow flowers with prominent blue veins and uniquely crossed upper lobes, creating an intricate floral design approximately 7 to 10 millimeters long. Growing low and spreading, it has slender stems that emerge among seasonal wetland vegetation. Its flowers feature a strongly concave lower lip with two distinctive bristles at the base of the smallest anthers, giving the plant its "doublehorn" character. The flower's complex structure, with its reflexed upper lobes and contrasting blue and yellow coloration, makes this tiny annual a subtle but remarkable inhabitant of California's ephemeral spring landscapes.

Habitat: Vernal pools, roadside ditches, lake margins

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: n SNF, ScV, n SnJV.

California counties: Sacramento, Placer, Fresno, San Joaquin, Amador, Merced, Stanislaus, Yolo, Butte, Sutter, Madera, Yuba, Mariposa

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