Boechera pratincola

Meadow rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Meadow rockcress is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, and Sierra Nevada Mountains in rocky meadows, forest edges, and slopes at elevations of 1,900 to 3,200 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces delicate lavender flowers 6 to 10 millimeters long on slender inflorescences. Growing with stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall emerging from a basal rosette, it has a short-lived perennial habit with branches covered in tiny multi-rayed hairs. Its basal leaves are 1.5 to 7 millimeters wide, entire or minutely toothed, with sessile star-shaped hairs covering the surface. The fruit develops as an erect, narrow silique 4 to 6.5 centimeters long, holding 60 to 140 seeds in two compact rows.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, in meadows, forest edges

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1900-3200 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH

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