Eryngium pinnatisectum

Tuolumne button-celery

Family: Apiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Tuolumne button-celery is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Foothills in Sacramento, Amador, Calaveras, and Tuolumne counties, growing in vernal pools, swales, and intermittent streams at elevations of 70 to 950 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces white flowers in spherical heads 1.5 to 2 centimeters wide, clustered in distinctive cymes. Growing 15 to 50 centimeters tall with an erect, stout stem that branches up to 32 centimeters above its basal rosette, it has a distinctive growth pattern. Its leaves are lanceolate, 10 to 30 centimeters long, sharply pinnately lobed with opposite white lobes and thickened margins. The plant produces narrow elliptic fruits 3 to 3.5 millimeters long, covered in dense, unequal lanceolate scales.

Habitat: Vernal pools, swales, intermittent streams

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 70-950 m

Bioregions: n&ampc SNF (Sacramento, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne cos.).

California counties: Tulare, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, San Joaquin, Napa, Sacramento, Placer, Shasta, San Diego, Madera, Yuba, Merced, Lassen

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