Streptanthus insignis

San benito jewelflower, San Benito Jewelflower

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

San benito jewelflower is a California native annual found in serpentine habitats throughout the central coastal regions. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces dark purple to pale yellow flowers with distinctive white to lemon-yellow petals about 7 to 12 millimeters long. Growing with bristly stems 1.2 to 6 decimeters tall, the plant can be simple or branched towards the top. Its leaves range from basal lanceolate forms coarsely dentate to mid-stem sessile leaves with basal lobes, creating a complex foliage structure. The fruit develops as an ascending or reflexed pod 3.5 to 11.4 centimeters long, bearing 32 to 94 broadly oblong seeds.

California counties: San Benito, Fresno, Monterey, Merced

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