Crepis nana

Dwarf alpine hawksbeard

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Dwarf alpine hawksbeard is a California native perennial found in central and southern Sierra Nevada, San Gabriel Mountains, northern Sierra Nevada (Sweetwater Mountains), White and Inyo Mountains, and northern desert mountains (Panamint Range) on talus slopes and gravel bars at elevations of 2,000 to 4,000 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces yellow flowers in small clusters with cylindric involucres 10 to 13 millimeters long, featuring dark green or purple phyllaries. Growing in dense clumps with slender stems 2 to 10 centimeters tall, the plant forms erect or ascending branches that are glabrous and purple-green. Its mostly basal leaves are round to spoon- or fiddle-shaped, varying from entire to few-toothed or shallowly lobed. The fruit is 4 to 6 millimeters long, golden-brown with 10 to 13 ribs and topped with a bright white, deciduous pappus.

Habitat: Talus slopes, gravel bars

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: 2000-4000 m

Bioregions: c&amps SNH, SnGb, n SNE (Sweetwater Mtns), W&ampI, n DMtns (Panamint Range)

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