Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Descurainia californica is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Sierra tansymustard. This plant is native to western North America from California to Wyoming. It is a resident of varied habitats from mountain forest to sage scrub. This spindly mustardlike plant has a single thin stem which branches and may reach over half a meter in height. Its sparse leaves are divided into two to four pairs of dull green lobes each one to six centimeters long. The tiny bunched flowers at the tip of each stem are bright yellow. The fruit is a tiny podlike silique on a straight pedicel. Pedicels holding fruits stick out from the stem at intervals.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

2 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow, Green

Plant communities

Lodgepole Forest, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Red Fir Forest, Subalpine Forest, Yellow Pine Forest

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 10 likely

Confirmed Likely

Desert Orangetip

Anthocharis cethura

Julia Orangetip

Anthocharis julia

Sara Orangetip

Anthocharis sara

Large Marble

Euchloe ausonides