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Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

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Caulanthus inflatus (Desert candle)
Bransford, W.D. and Dolphia

Caulanthus inflatus

Caulanthus inflatus S. Watson

Desert Candle

Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

Synonym(s): Streptanthus inflatus

USDA Symbol: CAIN15

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

A stout, swollen, hollow, yellow-green stem with few leaves, mostly near base, and many narrow flowers in a raceme.

This weird-looking plant resembles a candle or candelabrum. Wild Cabbage (C. crassicaulis) is similar, but its leaves lack backward-projecting lobes and its sepals and petals are purplish or brownish; it generally grows in sagebrush from western Nevada to southern Idaho, western Wyoming, and northwestern Colorado.

 

From the Image Gallery

2 photo(s) available in the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual
Habit: Herb
Fruit Type: Silique
Size Notes: Up to about 3 feet tall.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Purple
Bloom Time: Feb , Mar , Apr , May , Jun

Distribution

USA: CA
Native Distribution: Southern California and southwestern Nevada.
Native Habitat: Sandy or gravelly, dry, open slopes in brush or deserts.

Web Reference

Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.

Additional resources

USDA: Find Caulanthus inflatus in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Caulanthus inflatus in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Caulanthus inflatus

Metadata

Record Modified: 2023-03-13
Research By: TWC Staff

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