Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Eryngium aristulatum is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common names California eryngo and Jepson's button celery. This plant is native to California and Baja California where it grows in wet places, such as vernal pools and flooded meadows. This is a perennial herb with erect, rounded, naked stems, occasionally branching and reaching anywhere from 10 centimeters to nearly a meter in height. Leaves appear near the base and at nodes along the stem and are long and serrated to toothed. The flower cluster holds rounded flowers with five to eight long, straight, spiky leafs which often have spiny edges and may grow nearly 3 centimeters long. The flower contains white petals and white or purple styles. While this is an abundant species altogether, one variety (sometimes considered a subspecies), var. parishii, the San Diego button celery, is listed as an endangered species on both the California state and national levels.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

4 - 36 in Tall

Calscape icon
Color

White, Purple

Sun

Partial Shade

Water

Moderate, High

Ease of care

Moderate

Site type

Vernal pools, wet places

Plant communities

Chaparral, Coastal Salt Marsh, Foothill Woodland, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Forest, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 4 likely

Confirmed Likely

Agonopterix oregonensis

Black Swallowtail

Papilio polyxenes

Hawaiian Beet Webworm

Spoladea recurvalis

Celery Leaftier

Udea rubigalis