Cusickiella douglasii

Alkali cusickiella

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Alkali cusickiella is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, and Great Basin on rocky ridges, scree, and loose volcanic slopes at elevations of 1,500 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces small white to pale purple flowers 3.5 to 6 millimeters long with delicate sepals. Growing with extremely short stems just 1 to 5 centimeters tall, it forms dense, crisped-hairy clumps characteristic of alpine and subalpine environments. Its thick, leathery leaves are oblanceolate to oblong with ciliate margins, adapted to harsh rocky terrain. The small ovoid fruits measure 3 to 5.5 millimeters long, with a short style and spreading pedicel.

Habitat: Rocky ridges, scree, loose volcanic slopes

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 1500-2500 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, SN, SnBr, GB

California counties: Lassen, San Bernardino, Plumas, Mono, Mendocino, Nevada, Sierra, Modoc, Alpine, Placer

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