Sabulina pusilla

Annual sandwort

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Annual sandwort is a California native annual found in the North Coast, North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Central Western, Western Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in plains, open pine forest, and chaparral slopes at elevations below 2,400 meters. Flowering from spring to summer, this delicate plant produces tiny white to pale flowers less than 3.5 millimeters long. Growing with slender, thread-like stems 1 to 5 centimeters tall, it spreads in an open, flexible form with green stems that are completely smooth. Its leaves are extremely narrow, awl-shaped to lance-like, measuring just 1.5 to 5 millimeters long and less than 1.5 millimeters wide, with a single faint vein running through each leaf. Its tiny seeds are dark purple-brown, measuring just 0.4 to 0.7 millimeters with a thick margin.

Habitat: Plains, open pine forest, chaparral slopes

Bloom period: Spring-summer

Elevation: < 2400 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRI, SNH, SnJV, CW, WTR, PR

California counties: Kern, Monterey, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Fresno, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, Tulare, Ventura, San Bernardino, Tehama, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Del Norte, San Benito, Mariposa, Humboldt, Alameda, Lake, Trinity, Santa Barbara, Butte

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