Monardella douglasii

Douglas' monardella

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Douglas' monardella is a California native annual herb found in northern coastal ranges, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern coastal ranges in grasslands, woodland openings, and chaparral, often on serpentine or vertic clay soils at elevations of 50 to 1,100 meters. Flowering from May to November, this plant produces deep purple flowers in compact clusters 10 to 15 millimeters wide, with delicate narrowly ovate bracts. Growing with slender stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it may be branched or unbranched with an upright, open habit. Its leaves are 15 to 50 millimeters long, linear-oblong to lance-shaped, and covered in fine hairs. The flowers feature hairy deep purple corollas with stamens that extend beyond the petals, creating a distinctive appearance.

Habitat: Grassland, openings in woodland and chaparral, serpentine, occasionally vertic clay

Bloom period: May-Nov

Elevation: 50-1100 m

Bioregions: NCoR, SnFrB, SCoRI.

California counties: Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, Alameda, Fresno, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Napa, Butte

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