Leucophysalis nana

Dwarf leucophysalis

Family: Solanaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Dwarf leucophysalis is a California native perennial found in the northern Sierra Nevada, Sierra Nevada, and Great Basin in sandy soils and conifer forests at elevations of 1,500 to 2,800 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces pale flowers with a corolla approximately 2 centimeters in diameter, sometimes with purple tints. Growing with 1 to several tufted or spreading stems 5 to 25 centimeters tall that are sparsely to densely puberulent, it has a decumbent growth habit. Its leaves are 15 to 70 millimeters long, lanceolate to ovate or diamond-shaped, with bases ranging from acute to broadly obtuse and tips that are acute. The fruit is 1 to 1.2 centimeters in diameter, with a calyx that enlarges around the developing fruit.

Habitat: Sandy soils, slopes, conifer forest

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 1500-2800 m

Bioregions: CaR, SNH, GB

California counties: Mono, Plumas, Alpine, Nevada, Modoc, El Dorado, Placer, Shasta, Lassen, Siskiyou, Butte, Tehama, Trinity, Kings, Sierra, Tuolumne

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