''Claytonia gypsophiloides'', known by the common names gypsum springbeauty and Coast Range claytonia, is a species of wildflower in the family

Montiaceae Montiaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising about 14 genera with about 230 known species, ranging from small herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution. The family Montiaceae was newly adopted in the APG ...

Distribution

The annual wildflower is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it grows in the

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...

from the North Coast Ranges south to the

Temblor Range The Temblor Range is a mountain range within the California Coast Ranges, at the southwestern extremity of the San Joaquin Valley in California in the United States. It runs in a northwest-southeasterly direction along the borders of Kern County a ...

and Figueroa Mountain. It can usually be found in moist areas with rocky soils, often serpentine, in

California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...

habitats.

Description

''Claytonia gypsophiloides'' is an annual

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

producing an erect stem 15 to 25 centimeters in maximum height. The fleshy basal leaves are linear in shape and up to 15 centimeters long. The pair leaves at midpoint on the stem vary in shape. They may be linear and separate, fused along one side, or completely fused into a disc surrounding the stem. The leaves are gray-green, beige, or pinkish in color. The stalked

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is up to 15 centimeters long and bears up to 30 flowers. Each has 5 pink and white petals which are oval-shaped with a notched tip. The bloom period is February to April.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Claytonia gypsophiloides'' (Gypsum spring beauty)Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Claytonia gypsophiloides''UC CalPhotos gallery of ''Claytonia gypsophiloides''
gypsophiloides Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area {{Caryophyllales-stub