Trichostema oblongum

Mountain bluecurls

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Mountain bluecurls is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in dry meadow margins and streambanks at elevations of 100 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces blue to lavender flowers with curved petals creating distinctive curling shapes. Growing with multiple stems up to 50 centimeters tall, it has short appressed or spreading hairs that give the plant a soft, textured appearance. Its leaves are widely elliptic, typically 2 to 4 centimeters long, with indistinct or very short petioles, appearing almost sessile against the stem. The plant's delicate stamens arch outward, extending beyond the flower's calyx and creating an elegant, wispy silhouette.

Habitat: dry margins of meadows, streambanks

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 100-3000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaR, SN, MP

California counties: Lake, Butte, Tuolumne, Sierra, Fresno, Plumas, Tulare, Tehama, Placer, Nevada, Calaveras, Madera, Trinity, Mariposa, Colusa, Humboldt, Kern, Mono, Amador, Modoc, El Dorado, Shasta, Lassen, Siskiyou, Napa, Alpine, Mendocino, Riverside, San Bernardino

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