Sidalcea glaucescens
Waxy checkerbloom, Waxy Checkerbloom
Family: Malvaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Waxy checkerbloom is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Cascades, and northern Sierra Nevada in dry grassy meadows and open red-fir forests at elevations of 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces pink to pink-purple flowers 10 to 20 millimeters long in open, slightly curved inflorescences. Growing with multiple decumbent-ascending stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall, it has a thick woody taproot with a branched caudex. Its leaves are distinctive, with glabrous or slightly hairy blades 15 to 40 millimeters wide, typically featuring 5 to 7 entire primary lobes. The fruit consists of 6 to 8 segments, each 3 to 3.5 millimeters long with deeply pitted and net-veined surfaces.
Habitat: dry grassy meadows, open generally red-fir forest, often serpentine
Bloom period: Jun-Aug
Elevation: (900)1500-3000 m
Bioregions: KR, CaRH, n&c SNH
California counties: Alpine, Butte, Plumas, El Dorado, Nevada, Tuolumne, Del Norte, Madera, Modoc, Placer, Calaveras, Tulare, Kern, Lake, Siskiyou, Amador, Shasta, Lassen, Sierra, Tehama, Mariposa, San Joaquin, Trinity, Fresno, Yuba, Mono
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.