One or more flowers emerge from the tip of the stem, each with 5 leaf-like 10 mm. sepals and a 10-25 mm. long hairy corolla tube terminating in 2-4 mm. pink petals with white and yellow markings and reddish spots in the throat. The yellow stamens are exserted. Deer Springs Trail, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, CA. 5-31-10. © Joan Avise.

Whisker-brush

Leptosiphon ciliatus

An uncommon annual in coastal sage scrub and chaparral in burned areas, known in Orange County from near Live Oak Canyon and above Silverado Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains. (Roberts)  It can be seen more commonly in dry open places, 5000-7000', in yellow pine forest and in mountains from San Diego County to north Ventura County. 

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Deer Springs Trail, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, CA. 5-31-10. © Joan Avise.

Deer Springs Trail, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, CA. 5-31-10. © Joan Avise.

It is a diminutive hairy annual with a thin few-branched stem from 1-12 in. tall. Deer Springs Trail, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, CA. 5-31-10. © Joan Avise.

Needle-like pairs of 5-20 mm. leaves grow in a dense clump along the stem.  Deer Springs Trail, San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, CA. 5-31-10. © Joan Avise.