Gypsophila elegans

Showy baby's-breath

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Showy baby's-breath is a naturalized annual found in central Sierra Nevada Mountains near Mammoth Lakes, Great Valley, and western Transverse Ranges in open pine and fir forests and along roadsides at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from summer to early fall, this delicate plant produces white to pink flowers with purple-veined petals measuring 6 to 10 millimeters long. Growing 15 to 50 centimeters tall with a slender taproot, it has an open, airy growth habit with relatively few flowers. Its leaves are narrow and lance-linear, measuring 2 to 5 millimeters wide with a distinctive sparse, elongated shape. The plant's small white-scarious calyx cups the flowers in a delicate, bell-shaped arrangement.

Habitat: Open pine/fir forest, roadsides

Bloom period: Summer-early fall

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: c SNH (Mammoth Lakes), GV, WTR

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