Sanicula laciniata

Coast sanicle

Family: Apiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Coast sanicle is a California native perennial found in northern coastal, central coastal, and San Francisco Bay Area bioregions in coastal, open, or shrubby woodland slopes at elevations of 30 to 900 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces yellow flowers in small clustered heads with delicate, slender inflorescences. Growing 5 to 30 centimeters tall with a slender taprooted habit and branches near the base, it has a compact and graceful form. Its leaves are distinctive, with simple palmately lobed blades 1.5 to 4 centimeters wide, ovate to round, featuring 0 to 5 lobes with sharply angled margins and teeth approximately 2 millimeters long. Its fruit develops as a small ovate structure 2 to 4 millimeters wide, bearing slender, curved prickles that are slightly bulbous at the tips.

Habitat: Coastal, open or shrubby slopes, woodland

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 30-900 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoR, CCo, SnFrB, SCoRO

California counties: Humboldt, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Marin, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Lake, Napa, Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Trinity, Placer, Los Angeles, San Diego

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