Arabis blepharophylla

Coast rockcress, coast rockcress, coast rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Coast rockcress is a California native perennial found in the central Coast Ranges and San Francisco Bay Area on rocky outcrops, bluffs, and grassy slopes at elevations of 50 to 300 meters. Flowering from March to April, this plant produces rose-purple flowers 14 to 18 millimeters long, widely spoon-shaped and striking against its rocky habitat. Growing with 1 to few stems 6 to 25 centimeters tall, the plant forms a delicate clump with simple or few-branched stems covered in simple to forked hairs. Its basal leaves are oblanceolate to obovate, 2 to 8 centimeters long, with entire or slightly dentate margins and a soft, hairy texture. The plant produces erect fruits 2 to 4 centimeters long with slender, hairy pedicels, each containing 20 to 28 small round seeds.

Habitat: Rocky outcrops, bluffs, grassy slopes

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: 50-300 m

Bioregions: CCo, SnFrB.

California counties: Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Contra Costa, Santa Clara

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.