Boechera pauciflora
Hairy stem rockcress
Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Hairy stem rockcress is a California native perennial found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Mountains, Great Basin, and high-elevation rocky areas in sagebrush zones, scrub, and conifer forest edges at elevations of 700 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces lavender to near-white flowers in clusters with 17 to 60 individual blooms. Growing with slender stems 30 to 80 centimeters tall, it features a slightly woody caudex and stems covered with fine, branching hairs. Its basal leaves are 3 to 10 millimeters wide, dentate with stalked, multi-rayed hairs, while cauline leaves range from 14 to 60 millimeters long with variable hairiness. The fruit develops as a horizontal to pendant silique 5.5 to 10.5 centimeters long, containing 80 to 162 seeds arranged in a single row.
Habitat: Rocky soil in sagebrush areas, scrub, conifer forest edges
Bloom period: May-Jun
Elevation: 700-2500 m
Bioregions: CaRH, n&c SNH, GB
California counties: Modoc, Mono, Plumas, Inyo, Fresno, Siskiyou, Nevada, Tehama, Sierra, Lassen, Shasta, Alpine, Tulare, Humboldt, 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.