Boechera tiehmii

Tiehm's rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Tiehm's rockcress is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains on rock outcrops and gravelly soils at elevations of 3,000 to 3,600 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces white to lavender flowers 4 to 5 millimeters long with distinctive white petals. Growing with slender stems 8 to 30 centimeters tall emerging from a woody caudex, it develops a basal rosette with leaves 2 to 7 millimeters wide. Its leaves feature delicate, short-stalked hairs along the margins and are primarily entire or minutely toothed, with basal leaves having simple multi-rayed hairs. The plant produces ascending fruits 1.5 to 3.7 centimeters long, with 14 to 22 seeds arranged in a single row.

Habitat: rock outcrops, gravelly soil

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 3000-3600 m

Bioregions: c SNH

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