Parietaria pensylvanica

Pennsylvania pellitory

Family: Urticaceae · Type: annual · Native

Pennsylvania pellitory is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern inner Coast Ranges, southern Sierra Nevada, and San Jacinto Mountains in desert scrub, coastal scrub, chaparral, oak forest, and riparian woodland at elevations of 200 to 730 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces tiny green flowers nestled within dark red-brown calyx lobes. Growing 10 to 60 centimeters tall with decumbent to erect stems, it spreads in delicate, sprawling clusters. Its leaves vary from lanceolate to linear, measuring 10 to 90 millimeters long, with distinctively tapered bases and pointed tips. The small fruit, hidden between calyx lobes, is ovate and reddish-brown, measuring less than 1.5 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Desert scrub, coastal scrub, chaparral, oak forest, riparian woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 200-730 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRI, s SN, SnJt

California counties: Inyo, Riverside, San Diego, Colusa, San Bernardino, Trinity, Sonoma, Kern, Ventura

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