''Lithophragma heterophyllum'', commonly known as hillside woodland star, is a species of flowering plant in the

saxifrage family Saxifragaceae is a family of herbaceous perennial flowering plants, within the core eudicot order Saxifragales. The taxonomy of the family has been greatly revised and the scope much reduced in the era of molecular phylogenetic analysis. The fa ...

found in the western United States. It is native to the coastal mountain ranges of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it can generally be found in shady habitat. It is a

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

perennial herb growing erect or leaning with a slender naked flowering stem. The leaves are located on the lower part of the stem, each divided into rounded lobes. The stem bears 3 to 12 flowers, each in a cuplike calyx of red or green

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s. The five petals are white, up to 1.2 centimeters long, and usually divided into about three pointed lobes.

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
heterophyllum Flora of California Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Saxifragales-stub