Boechera xylopoda

Bigfoot hybrid rockcress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bigfoot hybrid rockcress is a California native perennial found in eastern Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and Desert bioregions on rock outcrops and gravelly slopes at elevations of 800 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces purple flowers approximately 9 to 12 millimeters long with petals 2 to 3.5 millimeters wide. Growing with slender stems 30 to 75 centimeters tall elevated on a woody base, it has a distinctive branching habit with short-stalked, multi-rayed hairs along its lower stem. Its basal leaves are 3 to 7 millimeters wide, ranging from entire to slightly toothed, with complex star-shaped hairs covering the surface. The fruit is a long, reflexed silique measuring 5 to 7 centimeters in length, with the upper two-thirds covered in fine hairs.

Habitat: rock outcrops, gravelly slopes, generally under shrubs

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 800-2500 m

Bioregions: e PR, GB, D

California counties: Inyo, San Bernardino, Kern, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Tulare, Ventura, Imperial

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