Silene nelsonii

Nelson's stringflower

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Nelson's stringflower is a California native perennial ranked 4.3 by CNPS, found in well-drained serpentine or metasedimentary soils in woodland and conifer forest habitats of California at elevations of 85 to 1,400 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces white flowers with delicate translucent gray petal claws and linear inner petals that are more than 10 times longer than wide. Growing 2.5 to 25 centimeters tall with decumbent to erect stems covered in soft, straight or wavy hairs, the plant develops multiple caudex branches. Its elliptic to obovate leaves are 2 to 8.2 centimeters long and 6 to 19 millimeters wide, distributed along the stem without reduction toward the top. The fruit is an ovoid to spheric capsule containing dark reddish-brown seeds approximately 2 to 2.25 millimeters long.

Habitat: Well-drained serpentine or metasedimentary soil, grassy openings near ephemeral drainages in woodland or conifer forest

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 85-1400 m

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