Carl Sharsmith

Draba sierrae is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Sierra draba. It is endemic to the central Sierra Nevada of California, where it is known from just a few occurrences in rocky alpine habitat. It is a perennial herb forming small, dense cushions of very hairy, oblong or lance-shaped grayish leaves each under centimeter long. The erect inflorescence bears several yellow flowers. The fruit is a flat, twisted, oval-shaped silique under a centimeter long containing a few unwinged seeds.

Sedella pentandra is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae known by the common name Mt. Hamilton mock stonecrop. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the Central Coast Ranges and adjacent sections of the Central Valley and coastline. It often grows on sandstone and serpentine soils. This is an annual herb growing no more than 8 centimeters high. It has small succulent leaves each a few millimeters long. The flowers atop the threadlike stems have fleshy sepals and yellowish petals a few millimeters in length.

Sedella leiocarpa is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae known by the common names Lake County mock stonecrop and Lake County stonecrop. It is endemic to Lake County, California, where it is known from only about ten occurrences in two locations. It is a resident of drying vernal pools and rocky clay flats, where it grows in colonies. It is a federally listed endangered species. This is an annual herb growing no more than four centimeters high. It is a tiny erect reddish or yellow succulent plant with sparse leaves each a few millimeters long. The flowers have yellow

Luzula orestera, with the common name Hairy woodrush or Sierra woodrush, is a species of flowering plant in the rush family. It is endemic to the High Sierra Nevada of California, where it grows in fellfields, talus, and other habitat in regions of subalpine and alpine climates.

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Chaenactis alpigena is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name southern Sierra pincushion. It is native to the High Sierra Nevada and the White Mountains of California, extending in the latter just into Nevada. The plant is cultivated in rock gardens as well. It grows in sandy and gravelly soil in various alpine and subalpine mountain habitat. This is a petite plant growing no more than a few centimeters tall with numerous stems which may be erect to prostrate, forming mats or clumps. It is generally gray to yellowish and densely woolly. Green, nearly

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Oreostemma peirsonii (formerly Aster peirsonii) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Peirson's aster and Peirson's mountaincrown. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, especially around the area where Fresno, Tulare, and Inyo Counties meet. It is a plant of the alpine climate of the high mountain peaks.