Hackelia brevicula

Poison canyon stickseed, Poison Canyon Stickseed

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 3.3

Poison canyon stickseed is a California native perennial found in the White and Inyo Mountains in northern Inyo County on open slopes, dry streambeds, and rocky terrain at elevations of 2,700 to 3,150 meters. Flowering in July, this plant produces pale blue flowers with a limb 5 to 8 millimeters in diameter, forming an open branching inflorescence. Growing with stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall, covered in stiff, coarse hairs that are strongly appressed downward, it has a distinctive appearance. Its leaves are soft-velvety hairy, with basal leaves 6 to 18 centimeters long and 0.5 to 1.8 centimeters wide, narrow-elliptic in shape and becoming progressively smaller up the stem. The fruit consists of small nutlets 2 to 3 millimeters long, with few to no prickles on the surface.

Habitat: Open slopes, dry streambeds, rocky slopes, open aspen stands

Bloom period: Jul

Elevation: 2700-3150 m

Bioregions: W&ampI (Mono, n Inyo cos.).

California counties: Mono, Inyo

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