Boechera covillei

Coville's rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Coville's rockcress is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and high Cascade Range in rocky alpine meadows and open conifer forests at elevations of 2,200 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces lavender to purple flowers 5 to 6 millimeters long with delicate petals. Growing with slender stems 5 to 25 centimeters tall emerging from a slightly woody base, it forms a compact basal rosette near ground surface. Its basal leaves are narrow, 1.5 to 5 millimeters wide, with simple margin hairs and glabrous leaf surfaces. The fruit develops as an ascending, glabrous silique 3.5 to 5 centimeters long with slightly wavy edges.

Habitat: Rocky slopes in alpine meadows, open conifer forest

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 2200-3500 m

Bioregions: CaRH, SNH

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