Spectacle Pod (Dithyrea californica)

4/4/04 Pipes Canyon Road (loop from Hwy. 247), Yucca Valley, Riverside County, CA 

3/7/04 Coyote Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA 

3/13/05 North entrance to Pinto Basin, Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside County, CA 

 

2/27/05 San Felipe Wash, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Imperial County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Spectacle Pod

SPECIES: Dithyrea californica

FAMILY: Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 3/7/2004

LOCATION: Coyote Canyon, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Annual canescent; bases of cauline leaves, pedicels with paired glands

Stems arising below leaf clusters, decumbent to erect, 1–7 dm; branches 0 below, sparse or 0 above

Leaves not fleshy, canescent; basal 3–15 cm, oblanceolate to widely obovate, dentate to shallowly lobed, tip obtuse; cauline 1–4 cm, widely oblong to ovate

Flower: petals 12–15 mm, prominently 3-veined, whitish to light lavender

Fruit: hairs simple, club-like or not; pedicel spreading

Seed 3–4 mm

Ecology: Abundant. Sandy places, washes, scrub

Elevation: < 1400 m.  

Bioregional distribution: Desert 

Distribution outside California: w Arizona, nw Mexico

Flowering time: Mar–May

Horticultural information: TRY.