Arabis pycnocarpa var. pycnocarpa
Hairy fruit rock cress
Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Hairy fruit rock cress is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, and White and Inyo Mountains in gravelly soils, meadows, and shady slopes at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces delicate white flowers 3.5 to 5 millimeters long with narrow petals. Growing with multiple erect stems 10 to 80 centimeters tall that can be simple or branched, it develops a variable branched or unbranched caudex. Its leaves range from basal oblong or spoon-shaped rosettes to cauline leaves that are ovate to lanceolate, often with arrow-shaped or lobed bases. The elongated fruits measure 4 to 6 centimeters long, giving the plant its distinctive "hairy fruit" common name.
Habitat: Gravelly soils, swales, disturbed sites, meadows, shady slopes, occasionally moist
Bloom period: Mar-Jul
Elevation: < 2500 m
Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, CaR, SN, SnBr, W&I
California counties: San Bernardino, Mono, Trinity, Tehama, Modoc, Inyo, Fresno, Marin, Siskiyou, Shasta, Del Norte, El Dorado
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.