Oreocarya hoffmannii

White mountains oreocarya, White Mountains Cryptantha

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

White mountains oreocarya is a California native perennial found in the western Inyo Mountains and northern Desert Mountains in rocky limestone or volcanic pinyon and juniper woodland at elevations of 1,740 to 2,900 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces off-white flowers with yellow appendages in cylindric inflorescences. Growing 17 to 30 centimeters tall with multiple stems, the central stem is erect and conspicuously white-bristly. Its basal rosette leaves are spoon-shaped, 2 to 5 centimeters long, thick and gray-green, densely covered with strigose to silky-tomentose hairs and bulbous-based bristles. The fruit consists of 2 to 4 ovate nutlets, 2.7 to 3.5 millimeters long, with a brown, dull surface marked by coarse tubercles and wrinkles.

Habitat: Locally common. Rocky, loose soils, generally limestone or volcanic, generally pinyon/juniper woodland

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 1740-2900(3100) m

Bioregions: W&ampI, n DMtns

California counties: Inyo, San Bernardino, Mono

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