Herniaria hirsuta var. cinerea

Herniaria

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Herniaria is a naturalized annual found in southern Sierra Nevada foothills, Tehachapi, San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern California coastal regions in disturbed areas, alkaline hills, and clay flats at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from spring to fall, this plant produces tiny green-white flowers less than 2 millimeters long arranged in small clusters of 3 to 8 blooms. Growing with spreading or prostrate stems 5 to 20 centimeters long, it forms low-growing mats across the landscape. Its small leaves are densely hairy, creating a soft, grayish-green ground cover that spreads across disturbed terrain. The tiny seeds measure just 0.5 to 0.6 millimeters, contributing to its ability to quickly colonize open ground.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, alkaline hills, clay flats

Bloom period: Spring-fall

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: s SNF, Teh, SnJV, SnFrB, SCo

California counties: Los Angeles, Colusa, Fresno, Ventura, San Benito, San Bernardino, Alameda, Madera, Butte, Calaveras, Humboldt, Marin, Merced, Monterey, Kern, Napa, San Joaquin, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Tehama, Tulare, Yolo, Mariposa, San Luis Obispo, Tuolumne, Siskiyou, Santa Barbara, Riverside, San Diego

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