Plagiobothrys collinus var. californicus

California popcornflower

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

California popcornflower is a California native annual found in southern San Joaquin Valley, central western California, southwestern California, and the northwestern edge of the Sonoran Desert near San Gorgonio Pass in openings of coastal scrub and occasionally chaparral at elevations generally below 700 meters. Flowering from February to May, this plant produces small white flowers with yellow appendages about 4 to 8 millimeters in diameter. Growing with somewhat prostrate stems 10 to 40 centimeters long covered in fine, soft hairs, it has a delicate spreading form. Its leaves are oblanceolate, measuring 1 to 3 centimeters long and 2 to 5 millimeters wide, with inflorescences that extend beyond the leaf length. Small nutlets 1.5 to 2 millimeters long form after flowering, completing the plant's reproductive cycle.

Habitat: Openings in coastal scrub, occasionally chaparral

Bloom period: Feb-May

Elevation: generally < 700(2300) m

Bioregions: s SnJV, CW, SW, nw edge DSon (San Gorgonio Pass)

California counties: Riverside, Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Tulare, Kern, San Benito, Colusa, Sonoma, Marin, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo

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