Githopsis pulchella subsp. serpentinicola

Serpentine bluecup, Serpentine Bluecup

Family: Campanulaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Serpentine bluecup is a rare (CNPS 4.3) California native annual found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Foothills in serpentine and Ione Formation outcrops at elevations of 300 to 640 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces light to deep blue-violet flowers 7 to 13 millimeters long with narrowly bell-shaped corollas. Growing with delicate stems 4 to 25 centimeters tall, featuring upper branches 2 to 6 centimeters long with fine or absent hairs. Its small leaves measure 3.5 to 9 millimeters long, with flower bracts positioned 5 to 15 millimeters apart. The plant's ovary is obconic and shallowly ribbed, with a slender style 5 to 9 millimeters long that is papillate in its distal portion.

Habitat: Serpentine, similar outcrops, and Ione Formation

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 300-640 m

Bioregions: n&ampc SNF.

California counties: Tuolumne, Mariposa, El Dorado, Amador, Stanislaus, Butte

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