Draba aurea, July 17, 2020
D. helleriana, in flower & fruit, July 17, 2020
Common & scientific name
Golden draba, Draba aurea & Heller’s draba, Draba helleriana
Family
Mustard, Brassicaceae
Location
Twining Peak, 13,000’ & summit area, 12,300
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
Ah, the wonderful yellow alpine drabas! Time to get the microscope out to study the hairs on its leaves, the only way to tell the various species apart. Both these Draba’s hairs are dense, overlapping each other in a tangled mess of cruciform (4-forked) hairs on top of short stalks, giving the plant an overall grayish-green look. I am separating out the two species based on the teeth on D. helleriana’s leaves, and its slightly larger overall stature. Both are common on the Pass.