Erythranthe shevockii

Kelso creek monkeyflower, Kelso Creek Monkeyflower

Family: Phrymaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Kelso creek monkeyflower is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada Foothills, southern Sierra Nevada, and western edge of the Mojave Desert in Cortez and Cyrus canyons, Kern County, growing on alluvial fans and dry streamlets with granitic soils at elevations of 900 to 1,300 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces maroon-purple and yellow flowers with intricate coloration, the upper lip deep maroon-purple and the lower lip yellow with maroon dots at the base. Growing as a diminutive plant 2 to 12 centimeters tall with minutely puberulent stems, it has a delicate and compact form. Its leaves are small, 3 to 10 millimeters long, lanceolate to ovate with margins rolled under and bases clasping the stem. The tiny flowers emerge from pedicels 10 to 22 millimeters long, with calyxes marked by reddish spots and rounded lobes.

Habitat: Alluvial fans, dry streamlets, generally granitic soils

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 900-1300 m

Bioregions: s SNF (Cortez, Cyrus canyons, Kern Co.), s SNH, w edge DMoj (Kelso Creek).

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