Eremogone aculeata

Prickly sandwort

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Prickly sandwort is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, and North Coast Ranges in rocky slopes, volcanic areas, and alluvial terrain at elevations of 2,100 to 2,600 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces white flowers with petals 4.5 to 10 millimeters long in open terminal clusters. Growing as a low-spreading, mat-forming herb with glandular-hairy stems 7 to 15 centimeters tall, it has a distinctly glaucous appearance. Its leaves are sharp-pointed, extremely narrow, measuring 10 to 35 millimeters long and only 0.5 to 1.5 millimeters wide with a single prominent vein. The seeds are small, yellow-tan to gray, elliptic-oblong, and bear low rounded tubercles.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, alluvium, volcanic areas

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 2100-2600 m

Bioregions: KR, CaR, MP

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