Hackelia bella

Beautiful stickseed, Beautiful Stickseed

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Beautiful stickseed is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Coast Ranges in forest openings, ridgetops, and streambanks at elevations of 1,200 to 2,030 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces delicate white flowers that age to a soft brown, with a corolla limb 12 to 19 millimeters in diameter. Growing with spreading-hairy stems 50 to 70 centimeters tall, it develops a distinctive branching habit with several open inflorescence branches. Its leaves are notably varied, with large basal leaves up to 26 centimeters long and narrow-elliptic shape, transitioning to smaller lance-shaped upper leaves that partially clasp the stem. The fruit consists of small nutlets with approximately 10 abaxial prickles, characteristic of the stickseed genus.

Habitat: Uncommon. Openings in forest, ridgetops, roadsides, streambanks

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 1200-2030 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH

California counties: Siskiyou, Trinity, Humboldt, Tehama, Shasta, Mendocino, Lassen

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