Keckiella breviflora

Bush beardtongue

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Bush beardtongue is a California native shrub found in foothill woodlands and chaparral at elevations of 500 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces delicate white to cream flowers with rose-tinged lobes lined with soft purple, measuring 12 to 18 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 50 to 200 centimeters tall, it has glaucous young branches that are smooth and blue-green. Its opposite leaves are subsessile with blades 10 to 40 millimeters long, lance-shaped and generally serrated along the edges. The plant's distinctive flowers feature a four to eight millimeter calyx with sharp-pointed lanceolate lobes, creating an elegant woodland presence.

California counties: Fresno, Los Angeles, Tulare, Monterey, Placer, El Dorado, Kern, Tuolumne, Madera, Nevada, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Mariposa, San Luis Obispo, Lake, Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Mendocino, Napa, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Sierra, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo, Yuba, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Alpine, San Benito, Humboldt

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