Sidalcea calycosa

Vernal pool checkerbloom, Vernal Pool Checkerbloom

Family: Malvaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Vernal pool checkerbloom is a California native perennial herb found in low-elevation wetland habitats, particularly vernal pool ecosystems. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces pale purple to white flowers 10 to 25 millimeters long with delicate petals. Growing 30 to 90 centimeters tall with stems that often root near the base and range from glabrous to sparsely hairy, it has a distinctive rhizomatous growth pattern. Its basal leaves are crenate with cauline leaves featuring 5 to 11 deep, linear to oblanceolate lobes, creating a complex leaf structure. The flower's calyx is 4 to 12 millimeters long, often tinged with purple and stellate-puberulent, with narrowly ovate lobes that are abruptly pointed.

California counties: Mendocino, Sonoma, Tulare, Fresno, Nevada, Amador, Tuolumne, Sacramento, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Merced, Marin, Tehama, Shasta, Napa, Madera, Mariposa, San Mateo, Placer, Stanislaus

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