Rusty Plagiobothrys, Rusty Popcornflower, Rusty Popcorn Flower: Plagiobothrys nothofulvus

Rusty popcorn flower is a taprooted annual with one to several stems arising from the base. The herbage is spreading-hairy with the hairs of the stem shorter, softer, more curled and somewhat stickier than those of the leaves. The leaves are all alternate with a basal tuft of persistent leaves and a few progressively reduce leaves scattered on the stems. The basal leaves range from 2-10 cm long and 5-20 mm wide, and they are largely the same width through much of their length.

The racemes are often paired, beginning as a tight coil and then elongating. The white flowers are relatively large and showy, with individual petals ranging from 5-9 mm wide. The calyx is covered with stiff yellowish, tawny hairs.

Rusty popcorn flower may be found on open slopes, in fields and along roadsides.

Rusty popcorn flower is common in the Columbia River Gorge and found west of the Cascade Mts. occasionally from western Oregon south to northern Baja California.

In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found between the elevations of 100'-1400' from Dog Mt. east to near the Dalles, OR.

The photo above shows a close-up of the hairs on the calyx and upper stem of rusty popcorn flower.........March 24, 2008.

The photo above shows rusty popcorn flower as seen along the Three Bench Loop above Doug's Beach in the Columbia River Gorge..........March 24, 2008. Plants are often similar in form to this individual, although some may be branched into several inflorescences on the upper half of the plant.

Rusty popcornflower blooming on the northwest side of Chenoweth Table near The Dalles, Oregon............March 28, 2013. The photo at right was taken on USFS propertyat a rocky hill about one-quarter mile northeast of the junction of Highway 30 and Marsh Cutoff Road at Memaloose in the Columbia River Gorge on the same day. Rusty popcornflower is very similar in appearance to common cryptanth (Cryptantha intermedia), but that latter species lacks the basal rosette of leaves and especially lacks the rusty hairs on the calyces.

Rusty popcornflower blooming on dry slopes above the east end of Hewett Lake about half a mile or so east of Major Creek, Columbia River Gorge......April 6, 2018.

Rusty popcornflower beginning to bloom atop Mill Creek Ridge, Wasco County, OR......March 17, 2020.

Rusty popcorn flower as seen on thin, drying lithosol soils at Catherine Creek in the Columbia River Gorge........April 9, 2009.

Close-ups of the maturing nutlets and calyces (post-flowering) of rusty popcornflower as seen in upland grasslands near Murrays Addition to the northwest of The Dalles, Oregon...........May 14, 2012.

Rusty popcornflower as seen near the Wasco County Rock Quarry on USFS lands on Sevenmile Hill, several miles northwest of The Dalles, Oregon.........March 8, 2015.

Rusty popcornflower at peak bloom, creating a carpet of white flowers on the west-facing slopes of Tracy Hill, Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge.........April 8, 2014.