I'm grateful to Chris Thayer for showing me this rare and interesting plant. According to the Jepson eFlora, it is known in California only from the Oakland Hills & Mt Hamilton in the San Francisco Bay area, and from Ft. Ord in northern Monterey County. The 2011 ''Checklist for Vascular Plants of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties'' by Toni Corelli also indicates it occurs in Henry Coe State Park, just south of Mt. Hamilton. [Note: Though CalFlora currently indicates an occurrence in Kern County, the 1930 CCH record there refers to Meconella oregana var. californica, which is apparently considered synonymous with M. californica...see this Tropicos link]. This species is also known from Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia (see here), where it is considered a rare and sensitive species as well.

In overall gestalt, this is an inconspicuous species with a short flowering period and distinctive, erect, linear fruits. Diagnostic characters for M. oregana include the thickened ring below the perianth parts (or 'annulus', reminiscent of Eschscholzia californica), and the 4-6 stamens with anthers shorter than half the length of the filaments. The flowers are much smaller than those of M. californica. The other small-flowered congener, M. denticulata, lacks the ''inner-tube like'' annulus, and has anthers at least half as long as the filaments (unlike the plants here).