Sedella pentandra

Mt. Hamilton mock stonecrop

Family: Crassulaceae · Type: annual · Native

Mt. Hamilton mock stonecrop is a California native annual found in northern coastal California, eastern Sacramento Valley, northeastern San Joaquin Valley, southern Coast Ranges, and central-southern Coast Ranges on compacted ground, slate, shale, sandstone, and serpentine outcrops at elevations of 300 to 700 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces pale green-yellow flowers with red streaks, small and delicate, with 5 stamens bearing tiny yellow anthers. Growing 2 to 13 centimeters tall with simple, erect stems or 1 to 4 ascending branches, it forms compact clusters on rocky terrain. Its small leaves measure 4 to 7 millimeters long and 2 to 3 millimeters wide, forming a dense base for the plant's diminutive structure. The fruit is tiny, 1 to 1.5 millimeters long, densely covered with stipitate-glandular hairs and bearing erect styles.

Habitat: Compacted ground, slate, shale, sandstone or serpentine outcrops

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: 300-700 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, e ScV, ne SnJV, s SCoRO, SCoRI.

California counties: Colusa, San Luis Obispo, San Benito, Monterey, Lake, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Merced, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Alameda

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