Lithophragma cymbalaria

Mission star

Family: Saxifragaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mission star is a California native perennial found in the San Joaquin Valley near Antioch, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, southern California, northern Channel Islands, and western Transverse Ranges in shady, moist areas at elevations up to 1,200 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces delicate white flowers 4 to 8 millimeters long with ovate-elliptic petals. Growing 10 to 35 centimeters tall with slender stems, it has distinctive basal leaves with shallow three-lobed blades and two opposite cauline leaves. Its basal leaves feature unique shallow lobes without teeth, creating a delicate architectural structure. The plant produces spiny seeds in small clusters of 2 to 8 flowers, each mounted on slender 4 to 10 millimeter pedicels.

Habitat: Shady, moist areas

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 1200(2500) m

Bioregions: SnJV (Antioch), SnFrB, SCoR, SCo/WTR (Ventura Co.), n ChI, WTR.

California counties: Mariposa, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Kern, Ventura, Stanislaus, Contra Costa, Orange, San Bernardino

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