Dryas drummondii Richardson ex Hook.
yellow mountain-avens (Drummond's mountain-avens)
Rosaceae (Rose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Allan Carson     (Photo ID #11707)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Dryas drummondii
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Low prostrate shrub from a long woody stem-base; stems trailing, freely branching and rooting, mat-forming, often forming large colonies.
Leaves:
Alternate, evergreen, the leaf blades elliptic to oblong-egg-shaped, 1-4 cm long, broadest above the middle, blunt to rounded at the tip, wedge-shaped at the stalked base, the margins coarsely round-toothed and often rolled under; wrinkled, dark green and smooth above, densely white woolly-hairy below; dead leaves withering but the remains persisting.
Flowers:
Usually solitary, nodding on leafless, woolly-hairy, 5- to 25-cm tall stalks; corollas yellow, never fully expanding, the petals 8 to 10, elliptic to egg-shaped, ascending, 8-12 mm long; calyces usually densely covered with black, gland-tipped hairs, sometimes long-silky-hairy, the 8 to 10 lobes broadly egg-shaped, 4-8 mm long; ovaries superior; stamens numerous, the filaments hairy toward the base.
Fruits:
Numerous achenes, each tipped by the persistent, golden-yellow, silky-feathery style, which twists around others when immature and in damp weather; the whole later opens to a fluffy mass.
Notes:
Three varieties occur in BC:

1. Calyces densely silky-hairy......................... var. eglandulosa Pors.

1. Calyces densely stalked-glandular.

2. Leaves smooth and dark green above...................... var. drummondii

2. Leaves finely woolly-hairy and white above........................ var. tomentosa (Farr) Williams

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
Yellow
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source:  The USDA

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Dryas drummondii

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)
1184 7 2480
Slope Gradient (%)
14 0 82

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

189 0 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 0 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
B
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
109
Modal BEC Zone Class
ESSF

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

BAFA(2), BWBS(9), ESSF(22), ICH(11), IDF(3), IMA(3), MH(11), MS(4), SBS(5), SWB(9)

Habitat and Range

Moist to mesic, often calcium-rich river bars, raw glacial moraines, scree slopes, ridgecrests and gravelly roadsides in the lowland to alpine zones; common to locally frequent (except for var. eglandulosa, which is infrequent) throughout BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, rare W of; N to AK and NT, S to OR and E to NF.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia