Sidalcea calycosa subsp. calycosa

Vernal pool checkerbloom, hogwallow checkerbloom, Hogwallow Checkerbloom

Family: Malvaceae · Type: annual · Native

Vernal pool checkerbloom is a California native annual found in northern California bioregions including North Coast Ranges, California Red Fir forests, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Sacramento Valley, and northern San Francisco Bay, growing in wet places like vernal pools and foothill woodland openings at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces delicate pink to white flowers 10 to 20 millimeters long with petals slightly varying in pistillate plants. Growing 30 to 90 centimeters tall with a taproot, it forms branching stems that are generally smooth and occasionally fleshy. Its basal leaves are unlobed, persistent, with blades 2 to 5 centimeters wide and small stipules 2 to 5 millimeters long. The fruit segments are approximately 2.5 millimeters long with distinctive net-veined sides.

Habitat: Wet places, especially vernal pools, hog wallows, swales, foothill woodland, chaparral openings

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: NCoRO, CaRF, SNF, ScV, n SnFrB.

California counties: Sonoma, Mariposa, El Dorado, Butte, Amador, Shasta, Fresno, Calaveras, Marin, Sacramento, Tulare, Nevada, Tehama, Placer, Madera, Colusa, Napa

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