Hesperolinon didymocarpum

Lake county western flax, Lake County Western Flax

Family: Linaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Lake county western flax is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in the northern Coast Ranges Interior (Big Canyon Creek, Lake County) in serpentine chaparral and grassland at elevations of 100 to 200 meters. Flowering from May to June, this delicate plant produces white to light pink flowers with white anthers, small and subtle. Growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall with a glabrous stem that becomes slightly hairy just above the leaf nodes, it has an open, branching structure. Its leaves are thin and thread-like, alternately arranged along the stem, measuring 10 to 25 millimeters long and remaining flat without clasping the stem. The flower's distinctive features include tiny white or light pink petals measuring 2.5 to 4 millimeters long and white styles that emerge in a paired configuration.

Habitat: Serpentine, chaparral, grassland

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 100-200 m

Bioregions: NCoRI (Big Canyon Creek, Lake Co.).

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