Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Thysanocarpus curvipes is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names sand fringepod and lacepod. It is native to western North America from British Columbia through the western United States to Baja California, where it grows in many types of habitat. It is a common plant in much of its range. It is variable in appearance. It is an annual herb producing a branching or unbranched stem 10 to 80 centimeters tall. The leaves are mostly lance-shaped but variable. The lower ones are sometimes borne on petioles and the upper ones may clasp the stem at their bases. They may be smooth-edged, toothed, or lobed. The inflorescence is a raceme of flowers with four white or purple-tinged petals and purple sepals. The fruit is a flattened, rounded or oval disclike capsule with a thin wing around the edge. The fruit is under a centimeter long and the wing is variable in appearance, flat or wavy, sometimes perforated.

Plant type

Annual herb

Size

4 - 31 in Tall

Calscape icon
Color

White, Purple

Sun

Full Sun

Soil drainage

Fast

Sunset Zones

1, 2, 3, 6, 7*, 8*, 9*, 10, 11, 12, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Site type

Dry, gravelly slopes

Plant communities

Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, Creosote Bush Scrub, Foothill Woodland, Joshua Tree Woodland, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Valley Grassland, Yellow Pine Forest

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

2 confirmed and 1 likely

Confirmed Likely

Desert Orangetip

Anthocharis cethura

Sara Orangetip

Anthocharis sara

Spring White

Pontia sisymbrii