Erysimum perenne

Sanddune wallflower

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Sanddune wallflower is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and northern eastern Sierra Nevada in alpine fell-fields, gravelly ground, and decomposing marble habitats at elevations of 2,000 to 4,000 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with petals 15 to 22 millimeters long and 3.5 to 6 millimeters wide. Growing with stems 40 to 65 centimeters tall, it forms a short woody caudex and spreads with distinctively branched, star-shaped hairs covering its leaves and stems. Its leaves are spoon-shaped to widely oblanceolate, 3 to 10 millimeters wide, and range from nearly entire to slightly toothed. The elongated fruits are 3.8 to 14 centimeters long, flattened, and contain 26 to 44 small ovoid seeds.

Habitat: Decomposing marble, gravelly ground, talus, granitic sand, alpine fell-fields

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 2000-4000 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH, n SNE (Sweetwater Mtns)

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Mono, Madera, Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Tuolumne, Fresno, Tulare, Nevada, Plumas, Kern, Sierra, Siskiyou, Alpine, Mariposa, Glenn, Trinity, Mendocino, Lassen, Tehama, Modoc, Shasta, Humboldt, Del Norte

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