Stanleya pinnata var. pinnata

Desert princesplume

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Desert princesplume is a California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada foothills, San Joaquin Valley, South Coast Ranges, southern California, western Transverse Ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions in chaparral, open sites, slopes, canyons, desert scrub, woodland, and dunes at elevations up to 2,900 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces bright yellow flowers 8 to 20 millimeters long with distinctive densely hairy petal claws. Growing 1.2 to 4 meters tall with a woody, branched base and glaucous stems, it develops a robust and striking appearance. Its leaves are primarily pinnately lobed, with basal and lower cauline leaves 3 to 15 centimeters long, ranging from oblanceolate to wide-lanceolate in shape. The fruit develops 3 to 9 centimeters long, containing 28 to 38 oblong seeds, each 2.5 to 4.5 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Chaparral, open sites, slopes, canyons, desert scrub, woodland, dunes

Bloom period: Apr-Sep

Elevation: < 2900 m

Bioregions: s SNF, SnJV, SCoR, SCo, WTR, SnGb, PR, GB, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Lassen, Kings, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Diego

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