Boechera rubicundula

Mount day rockcress, Mount Day Rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Mount day rockcress is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in the Santa Clara County area of the San Francisco Bay region on rocky slopes at elevations around 1,200 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces purple flowers approximately 6 to 8 millimeters long with petals 2 to 2.5 millimeters wide. Growing with stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall, it emerges from a woody caudex with stems covered in a mix of simple and multi-rayed hairs. Its basal leaves are 4 to 8 millimeters wide with minutely toothed edges, featuring long-stalked, 2 to 5-rayed hairs. The elongated fruits are nearly horizontal, 4 to 8 centimeters long and glabrous, containing 70 to 102 seeds arranged in a single row.

Habitat: Rocky slopes

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: +- 1200 m.

Bioregions: SnFrB (Santa Clara Co.).

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