Plagiobothrys stipitatus var. micranthus

Common vernal pool allocarya

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Common vernal pool allocarya is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, North Coast, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada Foothills, northern and central Sierra Nevada, Great Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, South Coast, Peninsular Ranges, and Great Basin in vernal pools, wet grasslands, conifer forests, and sagebrush scrub at elevations below 2,130 meters. Flowering from April to July, this delicate plant produces small white flowers with a corolla limb 2 to 4 millimeters in diameter. Growing with slender branching stems that spread close to the ground, it forms dense low-growing clusters in seasonal wetland habitats. Its small leaves are typically narrow and clustered along the stems, adapting to the ephemeral wet environments where it thrives. The plant's diminutive size and ability to complete its lifecycle in the brief window of seasonal pools make it a characteristic species of California's unique vernal ecosystems.

Habitat: Common. Vernal pools, wet sites in grassland, conifer forest, sagebrush scrub

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 2130 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaR, SNF, n&ampc SNH, GV, SnFrB, SCoR, PR, GB

California counties: Placer, Butte, Madera, Amador, Stanislaus, Monterey, San Joaquin, Fresno, Merced, Lake, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Modoc, Humboldt, Glenn, Solano, El Dorado, Colusa, Sonoma, Tehama, San Benito, Yuba, Sutter, Calaveras, Mariposa, Lassen, Yolo, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, Alameda, Shasta, Napa, Trinity, Tuolumne, San Diego, Nevada, Santa Clara, Riverside

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