Stellaria crispa

Crisp starwort, Crisp Starwort

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Crisp starwort is a California native perennial found in northern coastal California, Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, northern Sierra Nevada, and central Coast Ranges in shaded, damp areas at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering during summer, this plant produces white to pale flowers in small axillary clusters with delicate, ascending pedicels. Growing prostrate to trailing with slender white rhizomes, the plant spreads 10 to 40 centimeters across in soft, generally glabrous stems. Its leaves are approximately ovate, 8 to 20 millimeters long, with slightly wavy margins that appear shiny and smooth. The plant produces tiny red-brown seeds with low, elongate tubercles, characteristic of its delicate starwort form.

Habitat: Shaded, damp areas

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, CaRH, n SNH, CCo

California counties: San Bernardino, Plumas, Amador, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Kern, Fresno, Butte, Tehama, Shasta, Lassen, Nevada, Sierra, Madera, Marin, Del Norte, Mono, Mariposa, El Dorado, Placer, Tulare, Tuolumne, Inyo

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