Downingia yina

Cascade calicoflower

Family: Campanulaceae · Type: annual · Native

Cascade calicoflower is a California native annual found possibly in the northern California Range in boggy places near lakes, ponds, vernal pools, and mountain meadows at elevations of 1,200 to 1,510 meters. Flowering from July to August, this delicate plant produces blue flowers with a striking lower lip featuring a central white area with yellow spots and purple spots near the throat. Growing with slender stems typically 20 to 30 centimeters tall, the plant has a delicate, spreading growth habit. Its flowers feature three upper sepals slightly larger than the lower two, with a corolla 5 to 9 millimeters long and distinctive coloration. The fruit develops to approximately 20 to 25 millimeters long with thin, easily fractured lateral walls.

Habitat: Boggy places near lakes, ponds, vernal pools, mountain meadows

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1200-1510 m

Bioregions: Possibly in but not documented for n CaR

California counties: Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Lake, Sacramento

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