Ivesia pickeringii
| Ivesia pickeringii | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Ivesia |
| Species: | I. pickeringii |
| Binomial name | |
| Ivesia pickeringii Torr. ex Gray | |
Ivesia pickeringii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names silky mousetail and Pickering's ivesia. It is endemic to the Klamath Mountains of northern California where it is a plant of mountain meadows, often on serpentine soils. This is a perennial herb forming tufts of long, erect leaves and thin, naked stems. Each leaf is a taillike strip of overlapping lobed leaflets. The reddish to greenish stems reach 30 to 50 centimeters in height and bear inflorescences of clustered flowers. The stems, leaves, and inflorescences are all covered in fuzzy white to gray hairs. Each flower is about a centimeter wide, with pinkish-green triangular sepals and longer, narrower pink or purple petals. In the center of the flower are 20 stamens and a few pistils.