Plagiobothrys humistratus

Low popcornflower, Low Popcornflower

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Low popcornflower is a California native annual found in the Central Valley, Sierra Nevada foothills, southern Coast Ranges, and southern California coastal areas in vernal pools, wet grasslands, and moist places at elevations generally below 200 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small white flowers with pale yellow appendages in delicate clusters. Growing with prostrate stems 10 to 40 centimeters long that are sparse-strigose, it spreads low across the ground with an open, sprawling growth habit. Its cauline leaves are 3 to 8 centimeters long, distributed along the stem with lower leaves being more prominent. Its distinctive fruits are small lance-ovate nutlets about 2 to 2.5 millimeters long, often with subtle bristles and a nearly obscured ridge.

Habitat: Vernal pools, wet places, grassland

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: generally < 200 m

Bioregions: CaRF, SNF, GV, SCoRO, SCo.

California counties: Colusa, San Joaquin, Ventura, Contra Costa, Fresno, Butte, Kern, Tehama, Madera, Stanislaus, Alameda, Merced, San Luis Obispo, Solano, Yolo, Tulare, Monterey

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