Navarretia heterandra

Tehama navarretia, Tehama Navarretia

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Tehama navarretia is a California native annual herb found in northern California bioregions including the North Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sacramento Valley, eastern San Francisco Bay Area, and South Coast Ranges in vernal pools and wet flats at elevations below 1,100 meters. Flowering from May to June, this delicate plant produces white flowers with distinctive purple-spotted throats and occasional blue-tipped corolla lobes. Growing 3 to 11 centimeters tall with ascending branches covered in white, recurved hairs, it develops a spreading habit with intricate branching. Its 2-pinnately lobed leaves feature linear axes with narrow, spreading linear or needle-like lobes, creating a finely textured appearance. The flower bracts have spreading tips often colored a striking red, adding visual interest to this diminutive vernal pool specialist.

Habitat: Heavy soil, vernal pools, wet or drying flats

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: < 1100 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, CaR, ScV, e SnFrB, SCoRI, MP

California counties: Butte, Tehama, Shasta, Solano, Modoc, Yuba, Sutter, Napa, El Dorado, Lake, Siskiyou, Colusa, Glenn, Amador, Yolo, Mendocino, Contra Costa, Trinity, Sacramento, Sonoma

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