Sanguisorba officinalis

Great burnet

Family: Rosaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Great burnet is a native perennial ranked 2B.2 by CNPS, found in central Coast Ranges, northwestern Klamath Ranges, and northern North Coast Ranges in bogs, streams, and serpentine habitats at elevations of 120 to 1,400 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces dark purple to reddish-purple flowers in dense, elliptic-ovoid clusters 12 to 20 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 50 to 140 centimeters tall, it spreads through a thick, creeping rhizome. Its large basal leaves have 3 to 6 leaflets on each side, with ovate-oblong blades 25 to 50 millimeters long and more than 15 distinct teeth. The fruit is short-winged, 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters long, with smooth surfaces.

Habitat: Bogs, streams, often serpentine

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 120-1400 m

Bioregions: c NCo, nw KR, n NCoRO

California counties: Placer, Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino

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