Gayophytum decipiens

Deceiving gayophytum

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Deceiving gayophytum is a California native annual found in the Sierra Nevada, San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, Modoc Plateau, White and Inyo Mountains, and Panamint Range in pinyon/juniper woodland and pine and fir forests at elevations of 1,800 to 4,200 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces small white to pale pink flowers with delicate petals just over 1 millimeter long. Growing with slender branching stems less than 50 centimeters tall, it spreads with branches extending throughout the plant. Its leaves are generally 1 to 3 centimeters long and become increasingly reduced towards the stem's upper nodes. The fruit is slightly knobby, 6 to 8 millimeters long, and carries 10 to 25 seeds that range from glabrous to densely puberulent.

Habitat: Pinyon/juniper woodland, pine, fir forest

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: 1800-4200 m

Bioregions: SNH, SnGb, SnBr, MP, W&ampI, DMtns (Panamint Range)

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