Gayophytum heterozygum

Zig zag gayophytum

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Zig zag gayophytum is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, southern Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Warner Mountains in open montane forest at elevations of 500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from June to October, this plant produces small white to pale pink flowers around 2 to 3 millimeters long with distinctive forked branching patterns. Growing with slender stems up to 80 centimeters tall, it develops branches primarily in the upper portion of the plant and exhibits complex, irregularly structured growth. Its leaves are elongated, measuring 1.5 to 6 centimeters long, and become progressively smaller and more reduced towards the stem's upper sections. The fruit is notably irregular and lumpy, measuring 6 to 15 millimeters long, with seeds developing in an asymmetrical pattern and approximately half potentially remaining unviable.

Habitat: Open montane forest

Bloom period: Jun-Oct

Elevation: 500-3000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, Teh, SCoRO, TR, PR, Wrn

California counties: Los Angeles, Madera, Butte, Riverside, El Dorado, Amador, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Lake, Placer, Lassen, Sierra, Tulare, Plumas, Shasta, Alpine, Fresno, Modoc, San Bernardino, Nevada, Mariposa, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Mono, Kern, Inyo, Trinity, Humboldt, Tehama, Del Norte, Calaveras, Colusa, San Diego, Mendocino, Ventura, Glenn

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