Downingia ornatissima

Folded calicoflower

Family: Campanulaceae · Type: annual · Native

Folded calicoflower is a California native annual herb found in lower elevation grassland habitats. Flowering from April to June, this delicate plant produces lavender-blue flowers with distinctive white and yellow central markings, featuring unique purple spots near the throat. Growing with slender stems typically 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it forms compact clusters in seasonal meadows. Its leaves are narrow and elongated, arranged alternately along the stem. The flower's unusual corolla has an intriguing structural detail, with a backward-projecting horn between its two upper lobes.

California counties: Butte, Madera, Yolo, San Joaquin, Merced, Sacramento, Solano, Stanislaus, Mariposa, Calaveras, Placer, Contra Costa, Tehama, Fresno, Sutter, Tulare, Tuolumne, San Francisco

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