Thysanocarpus desertorum

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Desert sandpod is a California native annual found in southeastern desert regions of Inyo, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties in sandy washes and rocky slopes at elevations of 600 to 1,850 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small yellow-anthered flowers with delicate green or purplish petals. Growing with slender stems up to several dozen centimeters tall, it appears glabrous with sparse rough hairs near its base. Its distinctive leaves range from oblanceolate to elliptic, with basal leaves often having wavy or lobed edges and cauline leaves featuring wedge-shaped bases with partial lobing. The fruit is an unusual obovate pod with a flat or slightly incurved wing, typically 2.5 to 4 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Sandy washes, rocky slopes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 600-1850 m

Bioregions: se D (Inyo, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino cos.).

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