Boechera platysperma

Pioneer rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Pioneer rockcress is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, southern Great Basin, and Great Basin in rock outcrops and gravelly soils within dry pine and lodgepole-chaparral woodlands at elevations of 1,600 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces white to purple flowers 4 to 6 millimeters long with petals approximately 1 to 2 millimeters wide. Growing 6 to 35 centimeters tall with a woody caudex, it develops stems with short-stalked, 2 to 5-rayed hairs near the base. Its basal leaves are 3 to 10 millimeters wide, entire, and covered with short-stalked branched hairs, while cauline leaves are sparse and become increasingly glabrous toward the stem tips. The fruit is distinctive, with ascending pods 2.5 to 8.5 centimeters long and 3 to 5.5 millimeters wide, featuring wavy, non-parallel edges.

Habitat: rock outcrops, gravelly soil, in dry pine forest, lodgepole-chaparral woodland

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1600-3000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, SnGb, GB

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