Linnaea borealis var. longiflora

Twin flower

Family: Linnaeaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Twin flower is a California native shrub found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in moist shady places within conifer forests at elevations of 200 to 2,600 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces delicate white to pink flowers 10 to 13 millimeters long, hanging in pairs with a distinctive drooping appearance. Growing with slender stems 15 to 20 centimeters tall, it forms a low, delicate ground-hugging structure. Its small ovate leaves measure 12 to 18 millimeters long, with serrated edges above the middle and short petioles around 2 millimeters in length. The flower's inner bracts are straight-hairy, with outer bracts densely glandular-hairy and surrounding the ovary.

Habitat: Moist shady places in conifer forest

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 200-2600 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, n SNH, MP

California counties: Del Norte, Butte, Siskiyou, Shasta, Sierra, Plumas, Trinity, Glenn, Yuba, Humboldt, El Dorado, Modoc, Nevada

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