Triodanis perfoliata

Clasping venus looking glass

Family: Campanulaceae · Type: annual · Native

Clasping venus looking glass is a California native annual found in northwestern Sierra Nevada, northern Sierra Valley, Sutter Buttes, and southwestern California in disturbed areas at elevations up to 1,500 meters. Flowering from June to July, this delicate plant produces small white to pale blue flowers approximately 8 to 10 millimeters long with distinctive 6 to 8 millimeter lobes. Growing with slender stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it spreads in loose clusters across open ground. Its leaves are broadly clasping, approximately 8 to 11 millimeters long with conspicuous veins and blunt tips. The fruit contains small pores near its lower half, helping the plant disperse seeds in disturbed landscapes.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: < +- 1500 m

Bioregions: NW, n SNH (Plumas Co.), ScV (Sutter Buttes), SW (uncommon)

California counties: Tulare, Riverside, Los Angeles, Sutter, Butte, Colusa, Humboldt, Del Norte, Santa Barbara, Stanislaus, Siskiyou, Plumas, Monterey, Orange

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