Johnstonella costata

Ribbed johnstonella, Ribbed Cryptantha

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Ribbed johnstonella is a native annual found in eastern Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert regions in creosote-bush scrub on fine sand deposits at elevations below 600 meters. Flowering from January to May, this plant produces pale yellow flowers with small corolla appendages in dense inflorescences. Growing 10 to 20 centimeters tall with few stiff branches, it has a distinctive red-purple root and dense strigose stems covered in spreading bristly hairs. Its linear to lanceolate leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters long, slightly folded along the midvein and covered in rough, bulbous-based hairs. The fruit consists of 3 to 4 shiny brown nutlets, with one nutlet typically larger than the others, featuring a distinctive dome-like convex surface.

Habitat: Fine sand deposits (coarser soils), creosote-bush scrub

Bloom period: Jan-May

Elevation: < 600(1000) m

Bioregions: e DMoj, DSon

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, Tulare

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