Boechera rigidissima

Trinity mountain rockcress, Trinity Mountain Rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Trinity mountain rockcress is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges in rocky areas within open conifer forest at elevations of 1,800 to 2,100 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces purple flowers 6 to 8 millimeters long with petals about 1.5 to 2 millimeters wide. Growing with stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall, it emerges from a woody caudex with stems bearing two- to three-rayed hairs near the base. Its basal leaves are 2 to 6 millimeters wide, with simple or forked hairs, while stem leaves range from 5 to 10, becoming glabrous toward the tips. The elongated fruit is 4 to 7.6 centimeters long with slightly wavy edges, containing 24 to 54 seeds arranged in a single row.

Habitat: Rocky areas in open conifer forest

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1800-2100 m

Bioregions: KR

California counties: Trinity, Placer, Plumas, Tuolumne, Mono, Alpine

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