Thelypodium brachycarpum

Short-podded thelypodium

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: biennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Short-podded thelypodium is a rare (CNPS 4.2) California native biennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, and Great Basin in alkaline soils, adobe flats, and pond margins at elevations of 800 to 2,320 meters. Flowering from April to August, this plant produces white, crinkled flowers 8 to 12 millimeters long that are linear to narrowly oblanceolate in dense inflorescences. Growing with branched stems 30 to 80 centimeters tall that are generally glaucous and have minimal hair near the base, it develops distinctively shaped leaves. Its basal leaves are 3 to 14 centimeters long, pinnately lobed or nearly entire, with ciliate petioles, while mid-stem leaves are sessile and sagittate. The elongated fruit is cylindric, 1.2 to 2.7 centimeters long, containing 12 to 26 plump seeds.

Habitat: Alkaline soils, adobe flats, pond margins

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: 800-2320 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaR, GB

California counties: Siskiyou, Mono, Humboldt, Shasta, Trinity, Colusa, Napa, Inyo, Sierra, Sonoma

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