Stenanthium occidentale

Western featherbells

Family: Melanthiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Western featherbells is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges on moist banks, thickets, and meadows at elevations of 1,500 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from late May to July, this plant produces pale green-yellow to purple bell-shaped flowers 1 to 2 centimeters long with recurved tips. Growing with erect stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall emerging from a small bulb 2 to 4 centimeters in size, it develops an elegant raceme or panicle inflorescence 10 to 20 centimeters long. Its leaves are elongated, measuring 10 to 30 centimeters in length and 3 to 15 millimeters wide, with lance-linear bracts accompanying the delicate flower clusters. The fruit is distinctive, reaching 15 to 20 millimeters long and retaining persistent styles.

Habitat: Moist banks, thickets, meadows

Bloom period: Late May-Jul

Elevation: 1500-1900 m

Bioregions: KR

California counties: Siskiyou, Del Norte, Humboldt, Marin, Alameda, Trinity

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