Plagiobothrys hystriculus

Bearded popcornflower

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Bearded popcornflower is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in the southwestern Sacramento Valley in wet grasslands and vernal pool margins at elevations below 50 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small white flowers with pale yellow appendages in delicate clusters. Growing with prostrate to erect stems 10 to 40 centimeters tall, it has a strigose (stiff-hairy) appearance with lower cauline leaves 2 to 6 centimeters long. Its leaves and stems are covered in stiff, spreading hairs, giving the plant a bristly texture. The fruit consists of tiny, granular nutlets 1 to 1.5 millimeters long, covered in numerous stout, blunt-tipped prickles.

Habitat: Wet grassland, vernal pool margins

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 50 m

Bioregions: sw ScV.

California counties: Solano, Napa, Monterey, Yolo

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