Paronychia franciscana

California whitlow wort

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

California whitlow wort is a naturalized perennial herb found in southern Northern Coast Ranges, northern Central Coast, and San Francisco Bay Area in grassy hills at elevations below 250 meters. Flowering in spring, this plant produces small greenish-white flowers clustered in axillary groups 1.9 to 2.4 millimeters long. Growing as a mat-forming plant with prostrate stems 5 to 50 centimeters long, it spreads close to the ground with stems largely hidden by leaves. Its leaves are 5 to 10 millimeters long, elliptic to oblanceolate, moderately hairy, and green with bristle-like tips. The plant has a robust taproot larger than 3 millimeters in diameter, allowing it to establish effectively in its grassy habitat.

Habitat: Grassy hills

Bloom period: Spring

Elevation: < 250 m

Bioregions: s NCo, n CCo (around San Francisco Bay), SnFrB

California counties: San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma

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