Boggs Lake Hedge Hyssop
(Gratiola heterosepala )
Scrophulariaceae (figwort family)

Photo by Joe Molter, BLM

Description: Annual, smooth-stemmed herb, 1-3/16 to 4 inches (3-10 cm) tall. Leaves lance shaped with upper ones having either a blunt tip or notched margin. Sepals 1/8 -1/4 inch (4-6 mm) long and unequal. Petals 5, upper 2 yellow and fused, lower 3, cleft and white.

 Identifying Features:

1. Blunt leaves and sepals.
2. Flower lobes white and yellow.

Distribution: Lassen, Modoc, Shasta and Tehama Counties.  Also in Oregon.

Habitat: Vernal pools, lake or reservoir margins in shallow water or moist ground on adobe soil. In grassland, oak woodlands, sagebrush-juniper to pine forest type. Found at elevations from 650 to 5,600 feet (198 to 1707 meters).

Flowering Period: April - June

Similar Plants: Gratiola ebracteata, but it has pointed leaves, longer (5/16-7/8 inches, 8-23mm) more pointed sepals, white flowers, and unusally taller, to 10 inches (25cm).

Status: California State Endangered, California Native Plant Society List 1B 

 

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Field Office: Redding, Alturas, Hollister, Eagle Lake, Bakersfield