Sabulina rubella
Reddish sandwort, Reddish Sandwort
Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Reddish sandwort is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, Sierra Nevada, northern central Coast Ranges, and White and Inyo Mountains on rocky ridges and slopes at elevations of 2,400 to 3,800 meters. Flowering during summer, this plant produces delicate white flowers with petals slightly smaller than its sharp-pointed sepals. Growing as a dense, compact herb reaching 2 to 8 centimeters tall, it forms small tufted clusters with ascending stems covered in glandular hairs. Its leaves are needle-like, flexible, and mostly clustered near the plant's base, measuring 1.5 to 10 millimeters long and less than one millimeter wide. The tiny seeds are distinctive, with a thick red-brown margin that adds subtle color to this diminutive alpine plant.
Habitat: Rocky ridges, slopes, unglaciated metamorphics, granitics
Bloom period: Summer
Elevation: 2400-3800 m
Bioregions: KR, SNH, n CCo, W&I
California counties: San Bernardino, Mono, Marin, Tulare, Inyo, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, Fresno, Placer, Alpine, Amador
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.