Navarretia hamata is a highly variable species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name hooked pincushionplant. It is native to the coastal mountains and valleys of California as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area and as far south as Baja California. It is often a member of the chaparral flora. It is a hairy annual herb that has a spreading or erect stem up to about 30 centimeters tall. It usually has a strong skunky scent. The leaves are divided into narrow, sharp-tipped lobes, the ones at the tip of each leaf hooked. The flower cluster is a head filled with green, leaflike bracts. The light pink, hot pink, white/blue, or purple flowers are tubular, typically have five-lobed limbs, and are 1.5 centimeters long.
The plant blooms for about a month at the end of the rainy season in southern California.