Keckiella lemmonii

Bush beardtongue

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Bush beardtongue is a California native shrub found in northwestern California and northern Sierra Nevada Mountains in rocky slopes, conifer and mixed forests, and chaparral at elevations below 2,100 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces distinctive purple-brown flowers with a pale yellow lower lip lined with brown and purple, with blooms 11 to 15 millimeters long. Growing with wand-like stems 50 to 150 centimeters tall that are glaucous and young stems glabrous, it forms an open, graceful structure. Its opposite leaves are 10 to 65 millimeters long, lanceolate to ovate, with rounded to wedge-shaped bases and margins generally featuring 2 to 12 teeth. The plant's staminode is notably adorned with dense yellow hairs that extend beyond the flower structure.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, conifer and mixed forests, chaparral

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: < 2100 m

Bioregions: NW, n SN

California counties: Lake, Plumas, Nevada, Shasta, Tehama, Siskiyou, Del Norte, Trinity, Humboldt, Napa, El Dorado, Butte, Sierra, Mendocino, Glenn, Yolo, Yuba, Placer, Sonoma, Colusa, Solano, Calaveras

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