Draba pterosperma

Winged-seed draba

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Winged-seed draba is a rare (CNPS 4.3) California native perennial found in the central Klamath Ranges, specifically in the Marble Mountains of Siskiyou County, inhabiting marble and limestone crevices and scree at elevations of 1,500 to 2,450 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces bright yellow flowers about 6 to 7 millimeters long with petals 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters wide. Growing as a compact, cushion-forming herb with unbranched stems 3 to 11 centimeters tall, it features distinctive wavy, branched hairs covering its surfaces. Its basal leaves are small, 2 to 7 millimeters long, obovate to oblanceolate, with dense, wavy, stalked hairs and delicate ciliate edges. The fruit is distinctive, widely ovate to lanceolate, 5 to 10 millimeters long with small winged seeds measuring 1.6 to 3 millimeters.

Habitat: Marble or limestone crevices, talus, scree

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 1500-2450 m

Bioregions: c KR (Marble Mtns, Siskiyou Co.).

California counties: Siskiyou

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