Stemodia durantifolia

Purple stemodia, Purple Stemodia

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.1

Purple stemodia is a native perennial found in the peninsular region and western desert areas of Southern California in riparian habitats, on wet sand or rocks, and drying streambeds at elevations below 400 meters. Flowering all year, this plant produces violet to purple flowers 7 to 10 millimeters long with distinctive corollas. Growing with glandular-hairy stems 10 to 100 centimeters tall, it has an upright, branching structure. Its leaves are arranged 2 to 3 per node, approximately lanceolate, 2 to 4 centimeters long and 5 to 20 millimeters wide, with slightly toothed edges that become smaller toward the stem's tip. The fruit is an ovoid-cylindric structure 4 to 5 millimeters long.

Habitat: Riparian habitats, on wet sand or rocks, drying streambeds

Bloom period: All year

Elevation: < 400 m

Bioregions: PR, w DSon

California counties: Riverside, San Diego, Imperial, Santa Barbara

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