Epilobium minutum

Chaparral willowherb

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Chaparral willowherb is a California native annual found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, northern and central Sierra Nevada, Sacramento Valley, central western California, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and northern desert mountains in dry, open, disturbed areas and vernal pools at elevations of 15 to 2,320 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces delicate white or pink flowers 2 to 5 millimeters long with a club-like stigma. Growing up to 40 centimeters tall with a taproot and stems that become slightly peeling near the base, it has a slender, upright form. Its leaves are opposite near the base and alternate higher on the stem, generally lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, measuring 9 to 25 millimeters long and nearly glabrous. The plant produces slender fruits 9 to 28 millimeters long, with seeds featuring a distinctive netted surface and readily deciduous hair-tuft.

Habitat: Dry, open, disturbed areas, vernal pools, often after fire

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: 15-2320 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, n&ampc SN, ScV, CW, SnBr, PR, GB, n DMoj

California counties: Humboldt, Mendocino, Kern, Shasta, Lake, Del Norte, Butte, Tuolumne, San Mateo, Nevada, Siskiyou, Glenn, Yolo, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Placer, Trinity, Plumas, Tehama, El Dorado, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Marin, Alameda, Colusa, Lassen, Napa, Contra Costa, Inyo, Sierra, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Monterey, Modoc, Fresno, Sacramento, Yuba, Santa Clara, Solano, Santa Cruz, Amador, Mariposa, Los Angeles, Mono, Calaveras

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