Eryngium jepsonii

Jepson's coyote- thistle

Family: Apiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Jepson's coyote-thistle is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in southern North Coast Ranges Interior, deltaic Great Valley, and San Francisco Bay Area in moist clay soil at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from April to August, this plant produces white to pale blue spherical flower heads 5 to 15 millimeters wide with distinctive spiny bracts. Growing with erect stems 20 to 80 centimeters tall that are few to many-branched, it forms an elegant, glabrous plant with distinctive architectural qualities. Its leaves are narrowly oblanceolate, 10 to 30 centimeters long with serrate and spiny margins that are occasionally crisped or curled. The small fruit is approximately 2 millimeters long with ovate scales that taper to a spiny tip.

Habitat: Moist clay soil

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: s NCoRI, deltaic GV, SnFrB.

California counties: Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Yolo, San Mateo, Napa

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