Boechera lyallii
Lyall's rockcress
Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Lyall's rockcress is a California native perennial found in the Warner Mountains, Sierra Nevada, White and Inyo Mountains in alpine and subalpine habitats at elevations of 2,000 to 3,900 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces lavender to purple flowers 6 to 8.5 millimeters long with petals 1.5 to 3 millimeters wide. Growing with slender stems 3 to 15 centimeters tall emerging from a woody caudex, it forms delicate rosettes near ground level. Its basal leaves are narrow, 1 to 5 millimeters wide, with simple or short-stalked hairs along the margins, while cauline leaves are sparse and glabrous. The fruits are slender, erect siliques 3 to 5.6 centimeters long, containing 34 to 64 seeds arranged in two rows.
Habitat: Uncommon. Cliffs, talus slopes, gravelly soil, in alpine, subalpine habitats
Bloom period: Jun-Aug
Elevation: 2000-3900 m
Bioregions: CaRH, SNH, Wrn, W&I
California counties: El Dorado, Mono, Tuolumne, Inyo, Siskiyou, Tulare, Fresno, Modoc, Alpine, Plumas, Nevada, Placer, Trinity
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.