Plagiobothrys stipitatus var. stipitatus

Showy great valley popcornflower, Showy Great Valley Popcornflower

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Showy great valley popcornflower is a California native annual found in the Central Valley, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern Coast Ranges in vernal pools and wet grassland sites at elevations below 400 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white flowers with delicate corollas 5 to 12 millimeters in diameter. Growing with slender, branching stems that spread across the ground, it forms low-spreading clusters in seasonal wet habitats. Its small leaves are typically narrow and somewhat hairy, blending into the surrounding grassland vegetation. When conditions are right, these delicate annuals create carpets of tiny white blossoms across vernal pool landscapes.

Habitat: Vernal pools, wet sites in grassland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 400 m

Bioregions: CaRF, n SNF, GV, SnFrB, SCoRO

California counties: Yolo, Sonoma, Sacramento, Napa, Placer, Colusa, Sutter, San Joaquin, Butte, Tehama, Glenn, San Luis Obispo, Contra Costa, Solano, Merced, Alameda, Fresno, Stanislaus, San Benito, Shasta, Santa Cruz

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