Torilis arvensis

Tall sock-destroyer, Tall Sock-Destroyer

Family: Apiaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Tall sock-destroyer is a naturalized annual found in California's Foothills Province, especially in northwestern, northern Sierra Nevada Forest, and central western regions in disturbed places at elevations below 1,600 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces small white to pale green flowers in delicate compound umbels. Growing 30 to 100 centimeters tall with slender stems, it develops a branching, upright form characteristic of weedy plants. Its complex leaves are divided into 2 to 3 pinnate sections with numerous narrow leaflets 5 to 60 millimeters long, arranged in a lacy, intricate pattern. The fruit is covered with spreading prickles roughly equal in length to the fruit's width, giving the plant its memorable common name.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 1600 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (esp NW, n SNF, CW)

California counties: Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Butte, Shasta, Mendocino, Santa Barbara, Orange, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Tuolumne, Riverside, Los Angeles, Placer, Tulare, Glenn, Plumas, Amador, Trinity, Kern, Calaveras, Solano, Nevada, San Mateo, San Benito, Ventura, Santa Clara, Madera, Yuba, El Dorado, Yolo, Colusa, Sierra, Fresno, Marin, Sacramento, Lake, Monterey, Tehama, Contra Costa, Napa, Alameda, Siskiyou, Merced

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