WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

 
 

With slender, unbranching stems 6–30 inches tall, small leaves that hug the stem, and tight clusters of 3/8 inch wide flowers, this mustard is easy to overlook in mountain meadows, slopes, and trail sides. Note 4 white petals in a cross shape and nearly hairless stems. The single stem per rosette, hairless sepals that cup the petals, and the thin, upward-pointing, cylindrical fruit capsules distinguish this species.


FLOWER: May–July. Erect clusters at stem tips have 8–35 flowers on 3/4 inch long stalks (20 mm); 4 narrow petals, white aging to lavender; sepals erect, pale green, hairless. Fruit a thin wire-like capsule, erect, hugging the stem (not spreading away from stem, or drooping).


LEAVES: Basal rosette, often several growing together; blades oblong with long stems (petioles), tips pointed. Stem leaves alternate, clasp and conceal stem near base, more spaced upward; blades to 3 inches long (7.5 cm), narrowly lance-shaped with 2 small lobes at base; color varies from green to dark purple. Basal leaf surfaces have scattered tiny hairs with two branches–use lens (other species have unbranched or star-shaped hairs).


HABITAT: Gravelly soils of forest openings, meadows, slopes, canyons, drainages, roadsides; ponderosa-Gambel’s oak, spruce/fir-aspen forests, alpine meadows.


ELEVATION: 8,000–11,000 feet.


RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY; scattered across northern tier of states into New England.


SIMILAR SPECIES: 17 species and hybrids of Boechera in NM, many with only slight differences in hair structure. B. stricta crosses with almost all.


NM COUNTIES: Northern mountains of NM in mid- to high-elevation habitats: Cibola, Colfax, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Valencia.

DRUMMOND’S  ROCKCRESS

BOECHERA  STRICTA  (Arabis  drummondii)

Mustard Family, Brassicaceae

Biennial, short-lived perennial, herb

THE CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE COPYRIGHTED AND CANNOT BE USED

WITHOUT PERMISSION OF GEORGE OXFORD MILLER

HOME          SCIENTIFIC NAME         FAMILY NAME          COMMON NAME       SEARCH YELLOW          SEARCH RED        


SEARCH BLUE            SEARCH WHITE         SEARCH CACTI         SEARCH LEAFLESS         GLOSSARY

EMAIL ME

Small flowers with 4 petals grow in an erect, tight cluster on the stem tip. The sepals are hairless (arrow).

Basal leaves are oblong with short a petiole (arrow). Several basal rosettes may grow together, each with a single stem.

Stem leaves are clasping and obscure the lower stem.

Slender seed pods are erect and hug the stem. Stem, leaf, and fruit color vary from green to reddish-purple.

Leaves are alternately spaced along the stem. A single flower cluster tops each slender stem.