Draba sierrae

Sierra draba

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Sierra draba is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada Mountains in Fresno and Inyo counties, specifically inhabiting rock crevices and granite outcrops at elevations of 3,500 to 3,900 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces bright yellow flowers approximately 4 to 5 millimeters long with delicate petals. Growing in tufted, cushion-like formations with extremely short stems between 1 to 4 centimeters tall, it forms dense, compact clusters among rocky terrain. Its leaves are small oblong structures 2 to 6 millimeters long, densely covered with branched hairs and growing in tight rosettes without cauline leaves. The plant produces small fruits 4 to 8 millimeters long that are lanceolate to elliptic in shape, often slightly twisted and covered with short-stalked, multi-rayed hairs.

Habitat: rock crevices, granite outcrops

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 3500-3900 m

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

California counties: Inyo, Fresno, Mono

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