Physaria tenella

Little bladderpod

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Little bladderpod is a California native annual found in the Mojave Desert bioregion in gravelly washes and loose rocky slopes at elevations of 600 to 2,250 meters. Flowering from February to April, this plant produces yellow to orange flowers 6.5 to 8 millimeters long that are round to obovate in shape. Growing 15 to 60 centimeters tall with several decumbent to erect stems that are many-branched and densely hairy. Its leaves range from elliptic basal leaves 3 to 6.5 centimeters long to linear or obovate cauline leaves 1 to 3.5 centimeters long, with entire to wavy margins. The fruit is a spheric to obovoid pod 4 to 6 millimeters long, sparsely hairy on the outside and densely hairy inside.

Habitat: Gravel, sandy ground, washes, loose rocky slopes

Bloom period: Feb-Apr

Elevation: (0)600-2250 m

Bioregions: D

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial

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