Moehringia macrophylla
Large-leaved sandwort
Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Large-leaved sandwort is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, northern Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in moist, shaded slopes, rocky ridges, pine and oak forests at elevations of 300 to 1,800 meters. Flowering from late spring to summer, this plant produces white flowers with round petals and delicate sepals. Growing with slender, branched stems 2 to 18 millimeters tall that have minute peg-like hairs, it spreads through a thin, branching rhizome. Its leaves are 1.5 to 5 centimeters long, spaced evenly along the stem, with smooth to minutely granular margins and ciliate edges near the base. The fruit develops as a small black seed approximately 1.5 to 2.2 millimeters long with low, rounded tubercles.
Habitat: Moist, shaded slopes, rocky ridges, summits, pine, oak forests, serpentine
Bloom period: Late spring-summer
Elevation: 300-1800 m
Bioregions: NW, n&s SNH, SnFrB, SCoRO, PR
California counties: Humboldt, Monterey, Trinity, Placer, San Diego, Siskiyou, Tulare, Plumas, Contra Costa, Butte, San Mateo, Alameda, Sonoma, San Benito, Del Norte, Santa Clara, Marin, Yuba, Shasta, Fresno, Mendocino, El Dorado
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.