Sidalcea covillei

Owens valley checkerbloom

Family: Malvaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Owens valley checkerbloom is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in the eastern Sierra Nevada region in alkaline flats of Owens Valley, Inyo County at elevations of 1,100 to 1,300 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces pink-lavender flowers 10 to 15 millimeters long in open, branched inflorescences with over 20 blooms. Growing with multiple stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall that are stellate-hairy and becoming coarsely bristly at the base, it forms dense clusters. Its basal leaves are deeply divided into 7 linear lobes, appearing fleshy and glaucous with dense stellate hairs covering the surface. The fruit develops as small segments about 2.5 millimeters long with a net-veined back and strongly veined sides.

Habitat: Alkaline flats

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 1100-1300 m

Bioregions: SNE (Owens Valley, Inyo Co.).

California counties: Inyo, Mono

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