Silene laciniata subsp. californica

California pink, California Pink

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California pink is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, central coastal California, San Francisco Bay Area, northern southern Coast Ranges, southern California, western Transverse Ranges, western southern Gabilan Range, and Peninsular Ranges in chaparral, oak woodland, and conifer forest at elevations below 2,200 meters. Flowering from spring to summer, this plant produces pink flowers with deeply fringed petals in delicate clusters. Growing with slender stems 30 to 60 centimeters tall, it develops a branching habit with multiple flowering stems. Its leaves are widely lanceolate to ovate, arranged alternately along the stem, creating a soft and graceful appearance. The fruit contains small red-brown seeds approximately 2 to 2.5 millimeters long, contributing to the plant's reproductive strategy.

Habitat: Chaparral, oak woodland, conifer forest, serpentine or not

Bloom period: Spring-summer

Elevation: < 2200 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, CCo, SnFrB, n SCoRO, SCo, WTR (n slope), w SnGb, PR

California counties: Humboldt, Colusa, Kern, Tuolumne, Tulare, Placer, Lake, San Mateo, Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Madera, Marin, Plumas, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, Ventura, Yolo, Butte, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Santa Clara, Shasta, Trinity, Contra Costa, Yuba, Solano

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