Boechera peirsonii

Peirson's rockcress, Peirson's Rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Peirson's rockcress is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in the San Bernardino Mountains on granitic ledges and talus slopes at elevations of 2,700 to 3,350 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces purple flowers 5 to 6 millimeters long with delicate petals about 1.5 to 2 millimeters wide. Growing with stems 10 to 25 centimeters tall emerging from a woody caudex, it develops from the center of a basal rosette with stems bearing short-stalked, branched hairs. Its basal leaves are 2.5 to 6 millimeters wide, covered with short 4 to 7-rayed hairs, while cauline leaves range from 3 to 12 in number with small basal lobes. The fruit develops as an ascending silique 2 to 3.7 centimeters long, containing 56 to 80 seeds arranged in a single row.

Habitat: Granitic ledges, talus slopes

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 2700-3350 m

Bioregions: SnBr.

California counties: San Bernardino, Alpine, Plumas

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