Navarretia fossalis

Spreading navarretia, Spreading Navarretia

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Threatened

Spreading navarretia is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in southern San Luis Obispo County, southwestern California, and the Mojave Desert in Los Angeles County, inhabiting vernal pools and ditches at elevations of 30 to 1,300 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces delicate white flowers in small clusters with linear corolla lobes less than 1 millimeter wide. Growing with spreading stems 1 to 15 centimeters tall, branching from the base with sparsely recurved hairs, it forms a delicate and open structure. Its leaves are pinnate-lobed with linear, sparse lobes that are either entire or occasionally forked, creating a fine, intricate foliage pattern. The fruit consists of two translucent chambers that open when wetted, a unique adaptation to its vernal pool habitat.

Habitat: Vernal pools, ditches

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 30-1300 m

Bioregions: s SCoRO (San Luis Obispo Co.), SW, DMoj (Los Angeles Co.)

California counties: San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo

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