Scoliopus bigelovii

California fetid adderstongue

Family: Liliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California fetid adderstongue is a California native perennial found in northern coastal California regions including northern Coast Ranges, northern Central Coast, and San Francisco Bay Area in moist, shady redwood forest at elevations below 1,100 meters. Flowering from February to March, this plant produces green or yellow flowers heavily lined with purple or dark brown, with six perianth parts in two distinctly different whorls. Growing with a short, underground stem emerging from a slender rhizome, it develops two to three basal leaves that are 5 to 20 centimeters long and 5 to 10 centimeters wide, with a distinctive mottled appearance and many veins. Its leaves are elliptic to oblong, sheathing at the base, and create an intriguing ground-level display in the forest understory. When flowering, its unusual peduncles emerge underground and twist to recurve, causing the developing fruit to touch the soil in a remarkable reproductive strategy.

Habitat: Moist, shady redwood forest

Bloom period: Feb-Mar

Elevation: < 1100 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, n CCo, SnFrB.

California counties: San Mateo, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, San Luis Obispo, Napa, San Benito, Alameda

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