Boechera paupercula
Small-flowered rockcress
Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Small-flowered rockcress is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada, Warner Mountains, and White and Inyo Mountains on rock outcrops, talus, and gravelly soils in alpine and subalpine habitats at elevations of 2,500 to 3,700 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces lavender to purple flowers 4 to 7 millimeters long with delicate petals. Growing with slender stems 3 to 15 centimeters tall emerging from a somewhat woody caudex, it forms compact clusters near ground level. Its basal leaves are narrow, 1 to 5 millimeters wide, with short-stalked, multi-rayed hairs covering the surface. The fruit is an erect, appressed silique 2.5 to 5.5 centimeters long with 24 to 40 seeds arranged in a single row.
Habitat: rock outcrops, talus, gravelly soil, in alpine, subalpine habitats
Bloom period: Jun-Aug
Elevation: 2500-3700 m
Bioregions: CaRH, SNH, Wrn, W&I
California counties: Inyo, Mono, Tulare, Modoc, Nevada, Alpine, Madera, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Fresno, Amador
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.