Description
A low perennial with one to several crowns of leaves, with each crown giving rise to one to four hairless stems. The leaves are mostly in basal rosettes, obovate (egg-shaped with the narrower end basal) or slightly narrower, with toothless or faintly toothed edges, 3-15 mm long and densely hairy with star-shaped hairs. The elongate inflorescence bears relatively few flowers (3-12), on individual flower stalks 1-5 mm long. the hairy sepals are 1.5 mm long and the while petals are almost spatula-shaped and about 2.5 mm long. Characteristically the petals are light yellow as the flower begins to open, but this color is soon lost (fades to white). The capsules are linear/lance-shaped to slightly broader and 5-11 mm long with a very short style at the tip (0.1-0.3 mm) (adapted from Mozingo and Williams 1980).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Differs from D. stenoloba in its glabrous (vs. strigose) stems, its pale yellow turning to white (vs. yellow) flowers, its perennial (vs. annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial) lifespan, and its short 0.1-0.2 mm long styles (vs. lack of styles) (Mozingo and Williams 1980, Kartesz 1988, Weixelman and Atwood 1990). Differs from D. crassifolia by its densely pubescent (vs. glabrous to sparsely hairy) leaves, its flowers turning from pale yellow to white soon after opening (vs. flowers yellow when fully open, turning white only upon fading), and its short 0.1-0.2 mm long styles (vs. lack of styles) (Mozingo and Williams 1980, Kartesz 1988, Weixelman and Atwood 1990). Differs from D. jaegeri by its flowers pale yellow when opening (vs. white), its short styles less than 2 mm long (vs. greater than 2 mm long), and its moist (vs. dry and rocky) habitat.
Habitat
Draba paucifructa occurs in moist to wet, often sheltered soils on drainage banks, stream edges, rock ledges, near seeps and springs, in avalanche chutes, and near late-lying snowdrifts. It seems to prefer wetland margin areas. Soils range from silty clay loam to cobbles/gravels; underlying substrate is typically limestone. In the high mountains, it is usually found in openings in subalpine conifer forest/woodland communities dominated by bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) and/or limber pine (Pinus flexilis), sometimes with Abies concolor (white fir) or Populus tremuloides (aspen); occasionally found in the alpine. Co-occurring species include Dodecatheon redolens, Ribes montigenum, Heuchera rubescens, Aquilegia formosa, Bromus marginatus, Castilleja martinii var. clokeyi, Anemone multifida, Aquiligea formosa, Boykinia jamesii, Cystopteris fragilis, Erigeron clokeyi, Rosa woodsii, Trisetum spicatum, Valeriana acutiloba, Antennaria rosea, Artemisia ludoviciana, Botrychium crenulatum, Epilobium angustifolium, Eriogonum umbellatum, Festuca brachyphylla, Juniperus communis, Oxytropis oreophila, Valeriana puberulenta, Haplopappus sp., Jamesia sp., and mosses; as well as other rare plants including Synthyris ranunculina, Cirsium clokeyi, Antennaria soliceps, Penstemon leiophyllus var. keckii, Potentilla beanii, Draba jaegeri, Angelica scabrida, Pedicularis semibarbata var. charlestonensis, Lesquerella hitchcockii, and Sphaeromeria compacta. It occurs at elevations of 2500-3470 m.