Monolepis nuttalliana

Nuttall's poverty weed

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Nuttall's poverty weed is a California native annual found in moist, alkaline clay soils throughout California (excluding the northwestern region) at elevations up to 3,700 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces tiny, inconspicuous flowers in small clusters of 5 to 15 blooms. Growing with prostrate to ascending stems 5 to 50 centimeters tall and coated in a powdery texture that becomes glabrous with age, the plant has a distinctive growth habit. Its leaves are fleshy and lanceolate, measuring 10 to 30 millimeters long, with the lower leaves often featuring two teeth near the base and a hastate shape. The fruit is small, measuring 1.1 to 1.5 millimeters with a minutely pitted wall that adheres closely to the seed.

Habitat: Generally moist, +- alkaline clay soils in disturbed areas

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 3700 m

Bioregions: CA (exc NW)

California counties: San Diego, Santa Barbara, Fresno, San Bernardino, Kern, Imperial, Mono, Riverside, Los Angeles, Nevada, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, Inyo, San Joaquin, San Benito, Monterey, Orange, Alameda, Modoc, Ventura, Tuolumne, Siskiyou, Plumas, Butte, Lassen, Sierra, Shasta, Alpine, Placer, El Dorado, Glenn, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Kings, Santa Cruz, Mariposa

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