Streptanthus oliganthus
Masonic mountain jewelflower, Masonic Mountain Jewelflower
Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2
Masonic mountain jewelflower is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada, northern Sierra Nevada, and northern White and Inyo Mountains in dry pinyon woodland, pine forest, rocky subalpine forest, and sagebrush scrub at elevations of 2,000 to 3,050 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces maroon-purple flowers approximately 9 to 12 millimeters long with thin petals. Growing with simple or few-branched stems 15 to 40 centimeters tall, it forms a basal rosette of obovate leaves. Its leaves are distinctively arranged with basal rosette leaves entire and obovate, while mid-stem leaves are lance-oblong, 2.5 to 8 centimeters long, with a lobed base and obtuse to acute tip. The fruit develops as an ascending-spreading silique 4.5 to 9.7 centimeters long with 48 to 60 small seeds.
Habitat: Dry, open pinyon woodland, pine forest, rocky subalpine forest, sagebrush scrub
Bloom period: Jun-Aug
Elevation: 2000-3050 m
Bioregions: c SNH, n&c SNE (Sweetwater, Masonic mtns), n W&I (n White Mtns)
California counties: Mono, Inyo, Tuolumne
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.