Small bright reddish-pink, shallowly bowl-shaped flowers bloom on short stalks growing from axils of upper leaves on this succulent plant with spreading or erect stems. Flower has special value to native bees.
Only Calandrinia in Yavapai County. Stems are smooth and simple with several spreading stems from the base. Flowers are reddish, five petaled, and held in leafy racemes.
Habitat
Sandy to loamy soils, grassy areas, cultivated fields; can be considered a weed in some areas.
Flower Characteristics
Flowers have 5 bright reddish-pink petals (sometimes white) about 1-1/2 to 6 inches long with notched tips and a white center. Inflorescence is a raceme bearing flowers on short stalks.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems prostrate to ascending. Leaf blades are linear to lance-shaped and hairy. The leaves are alternately arranged.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruits consist of egg-shaped capsules, roughly 1/6 to over 1/4 of an inch long that open into three sections. Each capsule contains numerous seeds.
Seeds are tiny, nearly circular to oval, black, glossy, have a small notch at one end, and are roughly less than 1/16 of an inch in diameter.