Stellaria calycantha

Northern starwort, Northern Starwort

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Northern starwort is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and other mountain ranges in mossy banks, bogs, and wet meadows at elevations of 1,700 to 3,800 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces small white flowers (rarely up to 5 petals) on delicate stems. Growing 5 to 25 centimeters tall with a white rhizome, it can grow prostrate or erect with glabrous or slightly hairy stems. Its leaves are elliptic to ovate, 3 to 25 millimeters long, with shiny margins that may be wavy and occasionally ciliate. The tiny red-brown seeds are less than one millimeter long and nearly smooth, giving this delicate starwort a subtle, understated character.

Habitat: Mossy banks, bogs, dry creeks, wet meadows, shaded areas

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1700-3800 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRI, CaRF, SN, SnGb, SnBr, SnJt, Wrn, W&ampI

California counties: San Bernardino, Tulare, Fresno, El Dorado, Siskiyou, Riverside, Inyo, Modoc, Placer, Tehama, Alpine, Butte, Tuolumne, Kern, Plumas, Sierra, Madera, Mono, Shasta, Nevada, Trinity, Colusa, Calaveras, Humboldt, Mariposa, Lassen

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