Soleirolia soleirolii

Baby's tears

Family: Urticaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Baby's tears is a naturalized annual found in coastal California regions including central Coast, San Francisco Bay, southern California, and San Nicolas Island in damp, shaded places at elevations below 215 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces tiny, inconspicuous green flowers in small clusters. Growing with prostrate stems that form dense, low-growing mats typically 2 to 30 centimeters long, it spreads quickly across the ground. Its alternate leaves are small, ranging from 3 to 8 millimeters long, with rounded to oblong shapes that grow obliquely on delicate stems. The plant produces tiny, shiny ovoid achenes enclosed by small winged bractlets, allowing it to spread easily in moist environments.

Habitat: Damp, shaded places

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 215 m

Bioregions: CCo, SnFrB, SCo, s ChI (San Nicolas Island)

California counties: Santa Cruz, Ventura, Santa Clara, Orange, San Francisco, Monterey, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Alameda, San Diego, Marin, Lake, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Yolo

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