Malephora crocea

Coppery mesembryanthemum

Family: Aizoaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Coppery mesembryanthemum is a naturalized perennial found in coastal California regions including the Central Coast, Southern Coast, and southern Channel Islands in coastal wetland margins and bluffs at elevations below 50 meters. Flowering from March to December, this plant produces stunning orange to yellow flowers with purple-tinged outer surfaces, creating vibrant daisy-like blooms. Growing with stout, pale, corky stems that often root at the nodes, it reaches heights of up to 20 to 30 centimeters. Its leaves are pale glaucous-green, linear-elliptic to oblanceolate, measuring 2.5 to 6 centimeters long and sometimes developing reddish tints. The distinctive flowers feature outer sterile stamens that are yellow and petal-like, with inner stamens often hairy at the base.

Habitat: Common. Margins of wetlands, coastal bluffs

Bloom period: Mar-Dec

Elevation: < 50 m

Bioregions: CCo, SCo, s ChI

California counties: Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Diego, Riverside, 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.