Linanthus bernardinus

Pioneertown linanthus, Pioneertown Linanthus

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Pioneertown linanthus is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in eastern San Bernardino Mountains (Sawtooths) in Joshua tree and pinyon-juniper woodland at elevations of 1,100 to 1,550 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces flowers with maroon to purple tubes, white throats, and lavender-pink to whitish lobes with a distinctive reddish mark at the base. Growing with delicate glandular-hairy stems 1.5 to 9 centimeters tall, it forms small clusters of 2 to 3 flowers in gravelly granitic soils. Its leaves have linear lobes 1.5 to 7 millimeters long, creating a sparse, delicate appearance. The tiny fruits are smaller than the flower's calyx, containing 2 to 10 slightly gelatinous seeds per chamber.

Habitat: Joshua tree or pinyon-juniper woodland, mixed scrub, in gravelly granitic soils

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 1100-1550 m

Bioregions: e SnBr (Sawtooths).

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