Epilobium cleistogamum

Cleistogamous boisduvalia

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Cleistogamous boisduvalia is a California native annual found in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, Central Valley, and southern Coast Ranges in vernal pools and clay flats at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white to pale pink flowers in small, delicate clusters with cleistogamous (self-pollinating) characteristics. Growing 15 to 32 centimeters tall with occasionally prostrate basal branches, it has a slender form with stems that may be nearly hairless or have spreading hairs. Its leaves are primarily linear to narrowly elliptic, opposite near the base and becoming alternate upward, often folded along the midrib with hairy surfaces. The fruit is distinctive, forming a tough, sharply 4-sided capsule that splits only on its distal third, containing rows of netted, glabrous seeds.

Habitat: Vernal pools, clay flats

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: SNF, GV, SCoRO.

California counties: Butte, Madera, Yolo, Sacramento, Calaveras, Solano, Tehama, Contra Costa, Sutter, Merced, Colusa, Glenn, Stanislaus, San Luis Obispo, Tulare, San Joaquin, Fresno, Tuolumne, Plumas, Napa, Placer

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