Draba albertina Greene
slender draba (slender whitlow-grass)
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Gordon Neish     (Photo ID #46807)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Draba albertina
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Biennial or short-lived perennial herb from a taproot and a simple stem-base; stems one to several, 4-30 cm long, often branched from the leaf axils, basal hairs coarse, mainly simple hairs, some 2-branched.
Leaves:
Basal leaves oblanceolate to egg-shaped, entire to wavy-margined and minutely toothed, 0.3-3.5 cm long, 1.5-7 mm wide; stem leaves lacking or 1-3 (4), generally lanceolate (narrowly elliptic to widely lanceolate), 0.4-3 cm long, 2-18 mm wide; lower surface hairs short-stalked, 2-branched, 3-branched and crosslike; upper surface hairs none or simple to 2-branched.
Flowers:
Racemes less than 35-flowered, open, generally glabrous; petals yellow, 2.5-3 mm long; sepals 1.5-2 mm long, glabrous or with some simple hairs.
Fruits:
Silicles, 5-15 mm long, almost linear to narrowly egg-shaped, 1-2 mm wide, glabrous, rarely with short hairs; styles less than 0.15 mm long; seeds up to 32, oval, light brown, about 1 mm long.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Draba albertina

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Avg

Min

Max

Elevation (metres)
1991 1480 2340
Slope Gradient (%)
46 1 85

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

155 90 225
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
3 1 4
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
B
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
8
Modal BEC Zone Class
ESSF

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

ESSF(2), IMA(1)

Habitat and Range

Mesic to dry forest openings and meadows from the montane to alpine zones; infrequent in SC and SE BC, rare northward to NW BC (Atlin) and westward to central Vancouver Island; N to YT and NT, E to SK and S to CO and CA.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Draba crassifolia var. nevadensis C.L. Hitchc.
Draba nitida Greene
Draba stenoloba var. nana (O.E. Schulz) C.L. Hitchc.