Draba sharsmithii

Mount whitney draba, Mount Whitney Draba

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Mount whitney draba is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in Fresno and Inyo counties, inhabiting rocky slopes and crevices at elevations of 3,300 to 3,800 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces small, bright yellow flowers 4 to 6 millimeters long in compact clusters. Growing as a densely tufted, unbranched herb just 3 to 7 centimeters tall, it forms tight, low-growing clusters in alpine environments. Its leaves are small, 4 to 7 millimeters long, oblanceolate to oblong in shape, with delicate white ciliate margins and short-stalked, multi-rayed hairs on the leaf surface. The fruit is an oblong to lanceolate pod 8 to 15 millimeters long, slightly twisted and curved, typically glabrous.

Habitat: rock crevices, slopes

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 3300-3800 m

Bioregions: s SNH (Fresno, Inyo cos.).

California counties: Inyo, Fresno

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