Meconella oregana

Oregon meconella, Oregon Meconella

Family: Papaveraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Oregon meconella is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in the central Coast Ranges at Fort Ord and San Francisco Bay Area in the Berkeley Hills and Mount Hamilton, inhabiting shaded canyons at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from March to May, this delicate plant produces white to pale flowers approximately 1 to 5 millimeters long with 4 to 6 stamens. Growing with slender stems 2 to 16 centimeters tall, it forms a compact, low-growing habit. Its leaves are small, measuring 3 to 18 millimeters long, and range from entire to minutely toothed. The plant produces elongated fruits 20 to 30 millimeters long, containing tiny obovate-reniform seeds less than 1 millimeter in size.

Habitat: Shaded canyons

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: CCo (Fort Ord), SnFrB (Berkeley Hills, Mount Hamilton)

California counties: Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Contra Costa

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