Boechera stricta (Drummond's Rock Cress) - photos and description
Pods 2 mm wide.
Stem leaf in above photo.
Stem leaf (underside) in above photo.
Basal leaves in above photo.
General: Slender biennial with smooth stems.
Flowers: Grow in racemes, purple-white in colour. We measured a flower at 7 mm long.
Fruit: Erect, glabrous, crowded, flat in profile, we measured a pod at 61 mm long by 2 mm wide.
Leaves: Stem leaves are alternate, appressed to the stem, lanceolate, we measured a leaf at 3 cm long by 7 mm wide. Stem leaves glabrous. Basal leaves petiolate, oblanceolate, we measured a basal leaf at 27 mm long by 4 mm wide. Basal leaf blades and petioles are lightly ciliate, otherwise hairless.
Height: Height is listed in Budd's Flora to 60 cm, we measured plants to 61 cm tall.
Habitat: Grassland and dry hillsides.
Abundance: Ranked as common, an S5, by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre. Uncommon in our experience.
Origin: Native.
Synonym: Listed in many of the field guides we use as Arabis drummondii.
How to identify this Rock Cress: Pods erect, 2-3 mm wide, flat (Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants).
When and where photographed: The above photos were taken June 3rd, grassland, Cypress Hills, about 425 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.