Lythrum tribracteatum

Three bracted loosestrife

Family: Lythraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Three bracted loosestrife is a naturalized annual found in northern Coast Ranges, Great Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, and northern North Coast Ranges in wet areas and drying ponds at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces small lavender flowers less than 3 millimeters long, arising singly in leaf axils. Growing with decumbent to weakly ascending stems 5 to 30 centimeters tall, it often branches near the base and appears delicate and sparse. Its leaves are distinctively arranged with lower leaves opposite and upper leaves alternate, ranging from 0.3 to 2.5 centimeters long and shaped as oblong to oblanceolate. The plant's cylindric fruits are approximately the same length as its narrow, 5 to 6 millimeter long hypanthium.

Habitat: Wet areas, drying ponds

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, GV, CCo, SnFrB, n MP

California counties: Solano, Modoc, Sonoma, Merced, Orange, Colusa, Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin, Lassen, Yolo, Lake, Stanislaus, Shasta, Butte, Glenn, Sacramento, Tehama, Mendocino, Napa, San Mateo

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