Draba albertina, June 8, 2022
Common & scientific name
Slender draba, Draba albertina
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Lincoln Creek meadow, 10,250’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
With over a dozen species of Drabas—mostly small, yellow, and distinguishable only by the types of hairs on the plants and their siliques (seed pods)—Drabas present an excellent challenge for the aspiring botanist.
Most of this slender, meadow-loving draba’s leaves are basal and hairy with stiff, simple hairs, with a few sessile (unstalked) leaves along the stem. Its stems are hairy at the bottom, becoming glabrous (smooth/hairless) higher up. Its siliques are smooth and narrowly elliptic. This is a slender, almost weedy-looking draba found in open meadows usually below treeline.