Nemacladus californicus

Parishella, dwarf nemacladus

Family: Campanulaceae · Type: annual · Native

Parishella is a California native annual found in southeastern Sierra Cuesta Range, southern Sierra Cuesta Interior, northeastern Transverse Ranges, and Mojave Desert in sandy or gravelly soils at elevations of 650 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from April to May, this delicate plant produces small white flowers with spreading elliptic lobes in compact head-like clusters. Growing prostrate with reclined stems forming rosettes 1 to 10 centimeters in diameter, it creates low-spreading ground cover with intricate structure. Its leaves are oblanceolate, 5 to 20 millimeters long, hairy, and narrowed to slender petioles, creating a soft textural ground presence. The fruit is approximately spherical, 4 to 5 millimeters long, with a distinctive dome-like tip that opens circumscissile to release its tiny seeds.

Habitat: Sandy or gravelly soils

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 650-1900 m

Bioregions: se SCoRO, s SCoRI (Caliente Range), ne WTR (n Ventura Co.), DMoj (San Bernardino Co.).

California counties: San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Kern, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Ventura

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