''Navarretia squarrosa'' (skunkbush, skunkweed, or California stinkweed) is a spreading annual plant from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

which is noted for its

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...

-like odour. It grows to between 10 and 60 cm in height and has tubular lilac pink to deep blue flowers up to 12 mm in diameter in dense terminal heads, encircled by spiny sepals and bracts. The leaves are pinnately lobed and spiny.

Occurrence

The species is native to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

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 ...

, and is naturalised elsewhere, including

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is commonly found at elevations of less than 800 metres on open, wet, gravelly flats and slopes. Specific plant associations where ''N. squarrosa'' occurs include the specialized

Monterey Cypress ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' is a coniferous tree. It is commonly known as the Monterey cypress and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California. The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Central Coast of Califor ...

forests near

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and municipal corporation, incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its n ...

.C.Michael Hogan and Michael P. Frankis. 2009
''Monterey Cypress: Cupressus macrocarpa'', GlobalTwitcher.com ed. N. Stromberg

References

squarrosa Flora of British Columbia Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of Washington (state) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Plants described in 1826 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polemoniaceae-stub