Hackelia sharsmithii

Sharsmith's stickseed

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Sharsmith's stickseed is a rare (CNPS 2B.3) California native perennial found in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in cliff crevices and talus slopes at elevations of 3,150 to 3,700 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces white to pale blue flowers with delicate blue-edged petals approximately 5.5 to 7 millimeters in diameter. Growing with slender stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall and covered in stiff, appressed hairs that point downward at the base and upward at the top, it has a distinctive structural character. Its basal leaves are elliptic to lanceolate, 3 to 14 centimeters long and 0.6 to 2.3 centimeters wide, while cauline leaves are smaller and oblanceolate to ovate. The fruit consists of small nutlets 2 to 3 millimeters long, with few to no prickles along the margins.

Habitat: Crevices in cliffs, talus slopes

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 3150-3700 m

Bioregions: s SNH

California counties: Inyo, Tulare, Fresno

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