Rhinotropis subspinosa

Spiny milkwort, Spiny Milkwort

Family: Polygalaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Spiny milkwort is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in the Lassen County and Sweetwater Mountains in desert scrub and volcanic mesa habitats at elevations of 1,350 to 2,285 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces small pink and yellow flowers with distinctive wing-like sepals and a yellow or greenish keel petal beak. Growing with compact stems less than 25 centimeters tall, it has a delicate shrub-like structure with stems that are glabrous or occasionally covered in short stiff hairs. Its leaves are small, measuring 4 to 31 millimeters long, with obovate or elliptic shapes and acuminate bases, generally appearing smooth or with occasional short stiff hairs. The plant produces fruits 5.5 to 10 millimeters long, with seeds that are evenly hairy and elliptically shaped.

Habitat: Desert scrub, volcanic mesas

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 1350-2285 m

Bioregions: MP (Lassen Co.), SNE (Sweetwater Mtns)

California counties: Lassen, Mono, Inyo

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