Nasturtium gambelii

Gambel's water cress, Gambel's Water Cress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

Gambel's water cress is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in southern Central and Southern Coast bioregions in marshes, streambanks, and lake margins at elevations below 350 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces delicate white flowers 6 to 8 millimeters long with oblanceolate petals. Growing with erect to decumbent stems 50 to 120 centimeters tall that are generally hairy and branched, it spreads across wet habitats. Its compound leaves feature 9 to 17 linear to narrowly oblong leaflets, each 5 to 25 millimeters long with dentate or wavy edges. The fruit develops as a slender pod 2 to 3 centimeters long, containing 24 to 40 small ovate seeds.

Habitat: Marshes, streambanks, lake margins

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 350 m

Bioregions: s CCo, SCo

California counties: San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, 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.