Hackelia nervosa
Sierran stickseed
Family: Boraginaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Sierran stickseed is a California native perennial found in southern Cascade Range and High Sierra Nevada Mountains in moist open slopes and forest openings at elevations of 1,800 to 2,930 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces delicate white to blue flowers with an open throat and blue limb approximately 1.5 to 1.8 centimeters wide. Growing with stems 40 to 70 centimeters tall that are mostly glabrous above and sparsely hairy below, it has an upright, somewhat spreading habit. Its basal leaves are oblong to oblanceolate, 3 to 12 centimeters long and 0.6 to 2.5 centimeters wide, with sparse rough hairs and progressively smaller cauline leaves that become ovate and clasping toward the stem tip. The fruit consists of nutlets 4 to 6 millimeters long, covered in evenly distributed prickles that give the plant its characteristic "stickseed" texture.
Habitat: Moist open slopes, openings in forest
Bloom period: May-Aug
Elevation: 1800-2930 m
Bioregions: s CaRH, n&c SNH
California counties: Placer, Nevada, Alpine, Mariposa, Fresno, Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Mono, Sierra, Tuolumne, Tulare, El Dorado, Amador, Madera, Tehama, Inyo, Trinity, Calaveras
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.