Lysimachia minima

Chaffweed, Chaffweed

Family: Myrsinaceae · Type: annual · Native

Chaffweed is a California native annual found in northwestern California, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Central Valley, central western California, southern California coastal areas, northern Channel Islands, and Peninsular Ranges in vernal pools and moist places at elevations below 950 meters. Flowering from March to May, this delicate plant produces white, pink, or salmon-colored flowers in small axillary clusters. Growing with decumbent to nearly erect stems 1 to 10 centimeters tall, it forms slender, often branched stems with minimal foliage. Its small leaves are alternate or occasionally opposite, measuring 2 to 5 millimeters long and shaped between oblanceolate and widely obovate. The tiny fruit develops as a circumscissile capsule that opens around its circumference when mature.

Habitat: Vernal pools, moist places

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 950 m

Bioregions: NW, CaRF, n SNF, GV, CW, SCo, n ChI, PR

California counties: San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Riverside, Santa Cruz

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