Tricardia watsonii

Three hearts

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Three hearts is a California native perennial found in southern California deserts, eastern Sierra Nevada, and Mojave Desert regions on sandy or gravelly desert slopes at elevations of 100 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white to cream flowers with lavender markings, bell-shaped and approximately 6 to 8 millimeters in diameter. Growing with erect stems 5 to 40 centimeters tall, it forms clusters of 1 to several stems from a woody taproot topped by a branched caudex. Its leaves are primarily arranged in a basal rosette, measuring 2 to 9 centimeters long with variable widths, and characterized by long soft hairs that become somewhat glabrous with age. The fruit develops into an oblong structure 7 to 9 millimeters long, containing 4 to 8 rough, brown seeds.

Habitat: Sandy or gravelly desert slopes, flats, mountains, generally under shrubs

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: 100-2300 m

Bioregions: SnBr, SNE, D

California counties: Inyo, Kern, San Bernardino, Mono, Riverside, Alameda

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