Comandra californica Eastwood ex Rydberg, Fl. Rocky Mts. ed. 2, 1138. 1923; C. umbellata var. californica (Eastwood ex Rydberg) C. L. Hitchcock

Subshrubs, 15–40 cm. Rhizomes: cortex blue, drying blackish. Aerial stems often much branched; proximal portions overwintering. Leaves: blade light green to bluish or grayish green, slightly paler abaxially, glaucous, broadly elliptic, ovate, lanceolate, or linear, 1.7–5.3 cm, thin, becoming ± succulent, base acute to attenuate, margins rarely revolute, apex acute, often apiculate; midrib and lateral veins apparent and somewhat protruding on abaxial surface. Pedicels 0–2.5 mm. Flowers funnel-shaped to rotate; petals lanceolate, lanceolate-oblong, or ovate, 2–3.5 mm; anthers 0.6 mm. Pseudodrupes brown, not glaucous, subglobose, 5–7.5 mm, smooth.

Flowering Mar–Jul. Dry places, mountains, foothills, open conifer forests, oak woodlands, chaparral margins; 300–3000 m; B.C.; Ariz., Calif., Nev., N.Mex., Oreg., Wash.

Subspecies californica is frequent in the Sierra Nevada of California and east of the Cascade range in Oregon and Washington; it is found also on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. In Arizona, this subspecies is restricted to high elevations such as the Santa Catalina Mountains. Intergradation with subsp. pallida occurs over wide areas of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.