Sidalcea diploscypha
Fringed checkerbloom
Family: Malvaceae · Type: annual · Native
Fringed checkerbloom is a California native annual herb found in northern Coast Ranges, California Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Sacramento Valley, central Coast, and San Francisco Bay Area in grasslands, open woodlands, and valleys, occasionally near vernal pools, generally on serpentine soils at elevations below 840 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces dark pink flowers with delicate fringed petals approximately 20 to 35 millimeters wide, occasionally featuring a dark spot at the base. Growing 40 to 60 centimeters tall with stellate-puberulent stems covered in long, fine bristles, it develops distinctive upper leaves with narrow lobes. Its leaves are bristly-puberulent with unique stipules on mid to upper stems, divided into two or more linear lobes longer than 10 millimeters. The flower clusters are crowded, with calyces 8 to 12 millimeters long that often display a narrow purple line or spot at the base.
Habitat: Grassland, open woodland, valleys, occasionally near vernal pools, generally serpentine
Bloom period: Apr-May
Elevation: < 840 m
Bioregions: NCoRO, CaRF, n&c SNF, ScV, CCo, SnFrB
California counties: Mendocino, Butte, Lake, San Mateo, Napa, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Yolo, Sacramento, Contra Costa, Yuba, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, Colusa, Solano, Tehama, Sutter, Glenn, Marin, Shasta, San Joaquin, Calaveras, Alameda, Monterey, Tulare, Del Norte, Mariposa
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.