Stellaria littoralis

Beach starwort

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Beach starwort is a California native perennial found in the North Coast and Central Coast bioregions along coastal marshes and bluffs at elevations below 40 meters. Flowering in spring, this plant produces white flowers with petals about as long as its lanceolate, sharply acute sepals. Growing as a sprawling herb 10 to 60 centimeters tall, it features distinctive long, wavy hairs covering most of its stems and branches. Its leaves are approximately ovate, 10 to 45 millimeters long, with shiny margins that are flat to wavy and densely fringed with fine hairs. The plant emerges from a white rhizome and creates delicate, sparse clusters of flowers with leaf-like bracts.

Habitat: Coastal +- marshes, bluffs

Bloom period: Spring

Elevation: < 40 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo.

California counties: San Francisco, Marin, Monterey, Sonoma, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Placer

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