Lyrocarpa coulteri

Coulter's lyrepod

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Coulter's lyrepod is a California native perennial found in the southern desert region on dry slopes, gravelly flats, washes, sandy plains, ravines, and granite hillsides at elevations below 1,300 meters. Flowering from September to April, this plant produces white to pale yellow flowers with petals 1.6 to 2.5 centimeters long. Growing with straw-colored woody stems 20 to 90 centimeters tall, it forms a compact subshrub with branching structure. Its lanceolate to ovate leaves range from 2 to 9 centimeters long, with distal leaves becoming less divided and slightly dentate or wavy. The fruit is an obcordate pod 1 to 2.5 centimeters long, bearing 6 to 16 round seeds.

Habitat: dry slopes, gravelly flats, washes, sandy plains, ravines, granite hillsides

Bloom period: Sep-Apr

Elevation: < 1300 m

Bioregions: DSon

California counties: San Diego, Ventura, Imperial, 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.