Navarretia paradoxiclara
Patterson's navarretia
Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native
Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3
Patterson's navarretia is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native annual found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Foothill regions of Calaveras and Tuolumne counties in open, seasonally wet meadows and serpentine soils at elevations of 150 to 450 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces pale blue to white flowers with ovate lobes 1.25 to 2.5 millimeters wide. Growing with erect, narrow stems 8 to 30 centimeters tall, the plant has white-hairy branches with hairs generally reflexed. Its leaves are 1 to 2-pinnate-lobed with needle-like axis and lobes, with spreading lobes at the leaf tip. The fruits are translucent below the middle and uniquely dehisce when wetted, containing dark brown, pitted seeds.
Habitat: Open, seasonally wet areas, meadows, serpentine soils
Bloom period: May-Jul
Elevation: 150-450 m
Bioregions: n&c SNF (Calaveras, Tuolumne cos.).
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.