Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Navarretia hamata is a highly variable species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name hooked pincushionplant. It is native to the coastal mountains and valleys of California as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area and as far south as Baja California. It is often a member of the chaparral flora. It is a hairy annual herb that has a spreading or erect stem up to about 30 centimeters tall. It usually has a strong skunky scent. The leaves are divided into narrow, sharp-tipped lobes, the ones at the tip of each leaf hooked. The flower cluster is a head filled with green, leaflike bracts. The light pink, hot pink, white/blue, or purple flowers are tubular, typically have five-lobed limbs, and are 1.5 centimeters long.

The plant blooms for about a month at the end of the rainy season in southern California.

Plant type

Annual herb

Size

3 - 12 in Tall
12 in Wide

Form

Mounding, Spreading

Growth rate

Fast

Dormancy

Summer Deciduous

Fragrance

Unpleasant

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Color

Cream, Lavender, Pink, Purple

Flowering season

Spring, Summer

Sun

Full Sun

Water

Extremely Low, Very Low

Summer irrigation

Never irrigate once established

Cold tolerance

Tolerates cold to 20 - 30° F

Soil drainage

Fast

Soil description

sandy.

Site type

Dry, sandy or rocky places, often disturbed

Plant communities

Chaparral

Spiny Redberry (Rhamnus crocea), California buckwheat, California sagebrush