Keckiella rothrockii var. rothrockii
Rothrock's keckiella
Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: shrub · Native
Rothrock's keckiella is a California native shrub found in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains, eastern Sierra Nevada, and desert mountains in conifer forest and pinyon/juniper woodland at elevations of 1,600 to 3,100 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces flowers with corollas 10 to 12 millimeters long that become glabrous as they mature. Growing with distinctive canescent leaves that give the shrub a soft, silvery-gray appearance, it forms a compact and textured growth habit. Its leaves are covered in a dense, felt-like layer of fine hairs, creating a distinctive silvery-white surface that helps the plant reflect intense mountain sunlight. The shrub's dense, hairy foliage and delicate flowers make it a resilient and visually striking component of its high-elevation mountain habitats.
Habitat: Conifer forest, pinyon/juniper woodland
Bloom period: Jun-Aug
Elevation: 1600-3100 m
Bioregions: c&s SNH, SNE, DMtns
California counties: Kern, Inyo, Tulare, Mono
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.