Perideridia californica

California yampah

Family: Apiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California yampah is a California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada Foothills, San Francisco Bay Area, and south Coast Ranges in damp soils near streams at elevations of 300 to 1,250 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces delicate white flowers in small umbel clusters with spreading rays. Growing 50 to 150 centimeters tall with generally branched stems, it develops distinctive tuberous roots clustered in groups of two to five. Its complex basal leaves are large and intricate, measuring 15 to 45 centimeters long, with finely dissected ovate blades divided into lance-linear segments. The plant produces small oblong fruits 5 to 8 millimeters long with delicate thread-like ribs.

Habitat: Damp soil by streams

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 300-1250 m

Bioregions: c SNF, SnFrB, SCoR.

California counties: Stanislaus, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Merced, Alameda, San Benito, Mariposa, Contra Costa, Tuolumne, Los Angeles, Calaveras

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