Nothochelone nemorosa

False turtlehead

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

False turtlehead is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges and northern California Ranges in rocky places within Douglas-fir, yellow-pine, and mixed-evergreen forests at elevations of 1,200 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces rose-purple to dark red flowers with a paler lower side, reaching 26 to 33 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 30 to 100 centimeters tall, it develops from a caudex with hairs often pointing downward. Its opposite, cauline leaves have large blades 4 to 14 centimeters long, lanceolate to ovate, with a heart-shaped or rounded base and coarsely toothed edges. The plant bears a glandular panicle inflorescence with small bracts and includes four stamens with long basal filament hairs.

Habitat: Rocky places in open Douglas-fir, yellow-pine, and mixed-evergreen forests

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1200-2300 m

Bioregions: KR, n CaRH

California counties: Siskiyou, Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity

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