Plagiobothrys uncinatus

Hooked popcornflower

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Hooked popcornflower is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in southern Coastal Ranges in chaparral and rocky canyon sides at elevations of 300 to 600 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces small white flowers with pale yellow appendages and delicate pink-stained corollas about 1.5 to 2 millimeters in diameter. Growing with decumbent to erect reddish stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it develops distinctive spreading, stiff hairs that are often hooked at the tips. Its leaves form a basal rosette 1 to 4 centimeters long, with alternate cauline leaves that are ovate in shape. The fruit consists of small brown nutlets about 1 to 1.3 millimeters long, featuring narrow lateral ridges and irregular translucent papillae.

Habitat: Chaparral, canyon sides, rocky outcrops, +- fire follower

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 300-600 m

Bioregions: SCoRO.

California counties: Monterey, San Luis Obispo, San Benito

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