15 Types of WHITE Wildflowers in California! (2025)

Did you find a WHITE wildflower in California?

Types of white wildflowers in California

If so, I’m sure you’re wondering what type of wildflower you found! Luckily, you can use this guide to help you identify it. 🙂

Please be aware that today I’m ONLY listing and focusing on the most COMMON plants. There are so many species, varieties, and subspecies that it would be impossible to name them all. But if you want to dive deeper into all the white wildflowers in California, check out this field guide!

View on Amazon

Here are 15 different WHITE wildflowers found in California!


#1. Common Chickweed

  • Stellaria media

Also known as: Chickenwort, Winterweed, Starwort

White wildflowers in California

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-11a
  • Life Cycle: Annual
  • Approximate Mature Size: 4-20 in (10-51 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring, Summer, Winter
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Common Chickweed is a white wildflower in California, but it’s considered an agricultural weed.

This plant is impressively resilient. For example, its seeds can survive in the ground for 50 years!

To spot Common Chickweed, look for small white capsule-shaped flowers in meadows, roadsides, wastelands, and open areas. Don’t allow it to spread in gardens because it will compete aggressively with your native plants for nutrients.

Luckily, this wildflower is not all bad news. Chickens love to eat Common Chickweed. In addition, its flowers are attractive to bees, butterflies, moths, and songbirds. You can also eat the nutritious leaves and stems, which taste like spinach!


#2. Fleabane

  • Erigeron annuus

Also known as: Daisy Fleabane, Dependable Daisy, Vergerettes

California white wildflowers

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-8a
  • Life Cycle: Annual, Biennial, or Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 4-24 in (10-61 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Fleabane is a genus of at least 400 species, many of which are white wildflowers that can be found in California. They’re often a favorite of gardeners! It boasts thin, delicate petals attached to yellow disc centers.

Bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds love to visit Fleabane’s daisy-like flowers. They bloom enthusiastically from spring to fall in pastures, roadsides, dry mountains, and grasslands.

Fleabane is a breeze to care for in the garden because it’s drought-resistant, self-seeding, and not fussy with soil type. You can plant it as a groundcover or use it to soften the edges of hard landscapes. Fleabane flowers look good in mixed borders, rock, or coastal gardens.


#3. Wild Strawberry

  • Fragaria vesca

Also known as: Common Strawberry, Mountain Strawberry, Thick Leaved Wild Strawberry, Virginia Strawberry, Scarlet Strawberry

Types of white wildflowers in California

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 4-7 in (10-18 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

The commercial strawberries we enjoy today were hybridized from Wild Strawberry, a white wildflower that grows natively in California. You can find this plant in disturbed habitats, meadows, river shores, woodlands, and even roadsides.

White, five-petalled flowers carpet the ground in spring where Wild Strawberries grow. The fruit of Wild Strawberries is much smaller than the ones we cultivate in gardens, but they are just as nutritious and tasty.

Birds and mammals also enjoy eating the tart fruits of the Wild Strawberry. In addition, the flower blooms attract bees, butterflies, and insect pollinators. In a garden setting, you can use this plant as a ground cover or for erosion control.


#4. English Plantain

  • Plantago lanceolata

Also known as: Ribwort Plantain, Lanceleaf Indianwheat, Ribgrass

White wildflowers in California

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-9a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 4-20 in (10-51 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun

The English Plantain is an introduced white wildflower in California, originally native to Europe and Asia.

It’s one of the most recognizable lawn weeds with its long, hairy, flowering spikes. These spikes contain small and inconspicuous white flowers.

You can spot English Plantain growing in disturbed habitats, dry meadows, grazing pastures, and roadsides. Its flowers are pollinated by flies and beetles, while songbirds eat their seeds.

Interestingly, English Plantain can adapt to different conditions depending on how humans try to eradicate it! For example, this plant naturally grows in tall stalks, but if the area where it grows is frequently mowed, it will grow low to the ground to avoid being cut.


#5. Hoary Alyssum

  • Berteroa incana

Also known as: False Hoary Madwort, Hoary Berteroa, Hoary Alison

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3b-7
  • Life Cycle: Biennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-24 in (30-61 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Midsummer
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

Hoary Alyssum is an invasive weed that you might find growing in pastures, riverbanks, roadsides, and lawns. Not only does it compete with native plants, but it can also be fatal to horses that eat it.

To identify this white wildflower in California, look for small white flowers on branching stems.

Each petal is deeply notched, so it might look like there are eight petals instead of four on every flower. The green leaves are covered with gray hairs.

Although bees, wasps, and other insects will eat Hoary Alyssum pollen, you’re better off killing this weed before it takes over your property. It can survive cold winters and hot summers. In addition, it thrives in poor soils and spreads prolifically, making it incredibly difficult to eradicate.


#6. White Clover

  • Trifolium repens

Also known as: Dutch Clover, Shamrock, Honeysuckle Grass

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-10a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 4-6 in (10-15 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

White Clover is native to Europe and Asia, but this white wildflower is considered a naturalized species in California. It grows so well that it can take over lawns, roadsides, pastures, and waste areas. Fortunately, however, White Clover doesn’t usually compete with native vegetation!

From spring to fall, White Clover blooms with an abundance of creamy white, rounded flowers. You might be familiar with its green leaves, which typically have three leaflets. But if you find one with four, you can consider yourself lucky! 🙂

Interestingly, all parts of the White Clover are edible. You can use the dried flowers to make tea or the young leaves in a salad. You can also grind the flowers and seed pods to be sprinkled as a seasoning on cooked food. It has a subtle vanilla-like flavor.


#7. Indian Hemp

  • Apocynum cannabinum

Also known as: Dogbane, Hemp Dogbane, Prairie Dogbane, Amy Root, Rheumatism Root, Wild Cotton

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3b-11
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-60 in (61-152 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

Despite being native to North America, this white wildflower is considered an aggressive weed in California.

You’ll likely find it in dry, rocky woods, meadows, and prairies. Unfortunately, it also thrives on farms where it’s known to reduce the yield of corn, soybeans, and other crops.

In addition to its invasive nature, all parts of Indian Hemp are highly toxic to humans, dogs, and livestock. Avoid touching the milky sap, which can cause blisters on your skin. Its stiff, reddish stems and bushy lance-shaped leaves will help you identify this plant.

The small white flowers are rich with nectar, so don’t be surprised to see lots of butterflies and moths where Indian Hemp grows.


#8. Hedge Bindweed

  • Calystegia sepium

Also known as: Hedgebell, Bugle Vine, Rutland Beauty, Heavenly Trumpets

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 84-156 in (213-396 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

Hedge Bindweed blooms in the summer with white, pink, or red trumpet-shaped flowers. It creates vines along hedges, reaching upwards of 10 feet tall. In the wild, you can spot this white wildflower in California near coastal beaches, marshes, open woods, and roadsides.

Hedge Bindweed can quickly become invasive to your garden by climbing fences, trellises, walls, and trees. It twines itself around neighboring plants or sprawls freely along the ground. Remember to prune it regularly before its growth gets out of hand.

Some subspecies of the Hedge Bindweed from Europe and Asia are invasive. If you want to grow this plant in your garden, look for North American natives such as the subspecies Americana, angulata, and appalachiana.


#9. Yarrow

  • Achillea millefolium

Also known as: Bloodwort, Carpenter’s Weed, Devil’s Nettle

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-36 in (61-91 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer

Planting Yarrow in your garden will reward you with abundant flowers that grow in clusters. They have small feathery leaves that look like ferns, and their scent might remind you of chrysanthemums (mums).

Some Yarrow plants were introduced from Europe in colonial times. However, there are many native subspecies of this white wildflower in California. Together, they form colorful hybrids that will attract bees, wasps, beetles, moths, and butterflies to your garden.

Yarrow plants naturally occur in disturbed areas, grasslands, open forests, and roadsides. They can tolerate drought and survive in less than perfect conditions.


#10. Catnip

  • Nepeta cataria

Also known as: Catswort, Catmint, Field Balm

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-36 in (61-91 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

Catnip is a famous plant with a long history of medicinal and culinary uses. Of course, you might know of Catnip as a recreational stimulant for cats. As a member of the Mint family, it has aromatic leaves that can repel mosquitoes, cockroaches, and termites.

Catnip is native to Europe and Asia, but this white wildflower is naturalized in California.

You can find it growing on roadsides, streams, waste grounds, dry banks, and fields. The triangular, veiny leaves and the small white or purple spotted flowers will help you recognize this plant.

Bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, and many pollinators love the nectar-laden flowers of Catnip. In addition, you can expect goldfinches and other birds to eat the seeds in the fall. Catnip grows best in full sun and well-drained soils.


#11. Queen Anne’s Lace

  • Daucus carota

Also known as: Wild Carrot, Bird’s Nest, Bishop’s Lace

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-11a
  • Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-48 in (30-122 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

Queen Anne’s Lace was introduced to North America by early European settlers. This white wildflower is an aggressive weed in many areas, invading grasslands, meadows, roadsides, and degraded prairies.

Interestingly, this wildflower is the ancestor of domesticated carrots that we cultivate and eat. Also known as the Wild Carrot, it is edible when young, but the roots quickly become woody and fibrous as they age.

To identify this plant, look for two-foot-tall umbels with small white flowers and hairy stems. Queen Anne’s Lace adapts to most soils and can be difficult to pull up from the ground. It produces and spreads seeds prolifically, so it’s best to prevent it from taking root in your planned garden.


#12. Cow Parsnip

  • Heracleum maximum

Also known as: American Cow-parsnip, American Hogweed, Satan Celery, Indian Celery, Indian Rhubarb

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4b-10a
  • Life Cycle: Biennial or Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 47-94 in (119-239 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

Cow Parsnip is a relative of the cultivated parsnip. However, this white wildflower in California is not something you should eat. Be exceeding careful when gardening near this plant! The sap released from its broken leaves can cause blisters on your skin that take months to heal.

Typical of members of the carrot family, Cow Parsnip’s flowers occur in small, white clusters called umbels. The stems are tall and hairy, while the leaves are very large and divided into three lobes. Look for this plant in meadows, streamsides, and moist areas.

Cow Parnsip’s blooms are irresistible for birds and butterflies. The roots are also an important food source for wild animals. Bears are especially fond of them, so be careful of growing this plant in your backyard.


#13. Star Flower

  • Trientalis borealis

Also known as: Mayflower, Star-chickweed, Star-of-Bethlehem

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-7
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 6-12 in (15-30 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Late Spring to Early Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Shade

The Star Flower earned its common name for its star-like arrangement of petals.

There are typically seven petals on each bloom. Starflowers have bright yellow anthers, smooth lance-shaped leaves, and tall stalks.

You can find these white wildflowers in California in hardwood forests and wetland habitats. Its pollen attracts bees and flies, while the seeds attract chipmunks.

Unfortunately, Starflower is listed as endangered in some areas. However, you can help preserve the species by purchasing transplants from local nurseries. This plant requires no maintenance once established.


#14. Oxeye Daisy

  • Leucanthemum vulgare

Also known as: Dog Daisy, Marguerite, White Weed

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-24 in (30-61 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

Oxeye Daisy has beautiful white petals surrounding yellow disc-shaped centers. Unfortunately, this wildflower is from Europe and is an invasive species in California. Its seeds and underground rhizomes spread aggressively, colonizing native ecosystems. Today, you can find it growing in grassy fields, meadows, disturbed sites, and open woodlands.

Although the plant is self-fertilizing, bees, flies, beetles, moths, and butterflies help pollinate the Oxeye Daisy.


#15. Pokeweed

  • Phytolacca americana

Also known as: American Pokeweed, Great Pokeweed, Poke Sallet, Pokeberry, Pigeonberry, Dragonberry, Inkberry, Red Ink Plant, Garnet, Scoke

Growing Information

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 96-120 in (244-305 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Partial Shade to Full Sun

Pokeweed is a tall, branching plant with long pinkish racemes (flower stalks) holding small white flowers. Despite its unique and attractive look, Pokeweed is a troublesome weed that self-seeds easily and spreads aggressively in the garden.

Think twice before touching this plant if you come across it in pastures, woodland openings, and wastelands. Its poisonous berries and roots can cause vomiting, a burning sensation in the mouth, respiratory failure, and even death in extreme cases.

Although Pokeweed is poisonous to humans, dogs, and livestock, birds are somehow unaffected by it. Many species, including the Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Cardinal, Mourning Dove, and Cedar Waxwing, love to eat the berries and seeds.


Do you want to learn about ALL the wildflowers in California? Check out this field guide!


Which of these white wildflowers have you seen before in California?

Leave a comment below!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *