Oreonana purpurascens

Purple mountain-parsley, Purple Mountain-Parsley

Family: Apiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Purple mountain-parsley is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains on ridgetops in red-fir and lodgepole-pine forests at elevations of 2,375 to 2,860 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces white flowers with purple calyx lobes and anthers in umbels 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters wide. Growing with slender stems 0.8 to 2.2 centimeters tall and covered in gray hairs, it develops spreading peduncles 12 to 18 centimeters long. Its leaves feature bladeless sheaths 3 to 6 centimeters long and petioles 4 to 7 centimeters long, with narrowly ovate blades 5 to 10 centimeters long containing small lanceolate segments 1 to 3 millimeters long. The fruit is 4 to 5 millimeters wide and ranges from nearly glabrous to slightly hairy.

Habitat: Ridgetops, generally on metamorphic rocks, in red-fir or lodgepole-pine forests

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: 2375-2860 m

Bioregions: s SNH.

California counties: Tulare

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