Sedum obtusatum

Sierra stonecrop

Family: Crassulaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Sierra stonecrop is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada and adjacent mountain ranges on dry outcrops, cliffs, and rocky slopes at elevations of 1,200 to 3,700 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces bright to dull yellow flowers (occasionally with reddish midribs) in compact clusters 1 to 8 centimeters long. Growing with glaucous stems 4 to 15 centimeters tall, it forms dense rosettes in sunny locations with closely packed leaf clusters. Its distinctive leaves are strongly flattened, with rosette leaves 8 to 28 millimeters long, obovate to oblanceolate, and featuring blunt or notched tips. The flowers have petals 8.5 to 11 millimeters long, with white to yellow filaments and yellow anthers that age to brown or white.

Habitat: dry outcrops, cliffs, ridgelines, sunny rocky slopes, non-serpentine substrates, often on granitics

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1200-3700 m

California counties: Mono, Alpine, Tuolumne, Madera, Fresno, Nevada, El Dorado, Placer, Mariposa, Tulare, Plumas, Marin, Sierra, Amador, Calaveras, Tehama, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino

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