Sidotheca trilobata

Three-lobed starry puncturebract

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: annual · Native

Three-lobed starry puncturebract is a California native annual found in the southern Transverse Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, and western desert mountains including Little San Bernardino Mountains in sandy habitats at elevations of 700 to 2,100 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces delicate white to pink flowers with three-lobed perianth segments, typically 2.5 to 4 millimeters long. Growing with spreading stems 7 to 50 centimeters tall and up to 6 to 11 centimeters in diameter, it forms an open, branching habit. Its narrow linear leaves measure 1 to 5 centimeters long and 0.2 to 0.7 centimeters wide, with distinctive involucre bracts featuring green to reddish teeth and short awns. The tiny fruits are 1.2 to 2 millimeters long, nestled among glandular, erect flowering branches.

Habitat: Common. Sand

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: 700-2100 m

Bioregions: SnGb, SnBr, PR, w DMtns (Little San Bernardino Mtns)

California counties: San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Tulare, Orange, Ventura, Imperial

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