Silene krantzii

Krantz's catchfly

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Krantz's catchfly is a rare California native perennial ranked 1B.2 by CNPS, found in alpine areas above treeline at elevations of 3,000 to 3,500 meters in open, sandy or gravelly terrain. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces delicate pink flowers with petals 2.5 to 4 millimeters long, featuring distinctive two-lobed blossoms. Growing with prostrate to ascending stems 2 to 10 centimeters tall, it has a sticky-glandular surface that gives the plant a distinctive texture. Its basal leaves are linear-oblanceolate, 1 to 3 millimeters wide, and sticky-glandular on both surfaces, gradually reducing in size toward the stem tip. The reddish-tinged calyx is densely glandular and 8 to 15 millimeters long, enclosing a narrow ellipsoid fruit.

Habitat: Open, sandy or gravelly areas, above treeline

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: 3000-3500 m

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