Perennials; (cespitose, grayish pubescent); caudex branched (sometimes covered with persistent leaf bases, branches short, compact); sometimes scapose. Stems unbranched, (0.1-)0.2-1(-1.5) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes stalked, 4-10-rayed, 0.1-0.3 mm. Basal leaves rosulate; petiolate; petiole base ciliate, margin not ciliate, (trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.3-0.8 mm); blade oblanceolate to obovate, (0.3-)0.4-1.5(-2.5) cm × 1.5-3(-5) mm, margins usually entire, rarely dentate, surfaces densely pubescent with stalked, 4-10-rayed, stellate trichomes, 0.1-0.2 mm (sometimes 1 or more rays spurred). Cauline leaves 0-3(-6); sessile; blade oblong or lanceolate to ovate, margins entire (sometimes ciliate at base), surfaces usually pubescent as basal. Racemes (5-)7-18(-24)-flowered, ebracteate, slightly to considerably elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, pubescent with stalked, 4-10-rayed trichomes, (0.1-0.3 mm). Fruiting pedicels ascending, (sometimes slightly appressed to rachis), straight, 1.5-3(-4) mm, pubescent as rachis. Flowers: sepals (persistent), ovate, 1.2-2 mm, pubescent, (trichomes short-stalked, 2-6-rayed); petals white, spatulate to oblanceolate, 2-3 × 0.7-1.1 mm; anthers ovate, 0.2-0.25 mm. Fruits lanceolate or oblong to linear, usually slightly to strongly twisted, rarely plane, flattened, 3.5-9(-11) × 1.5-2.5 mm; valves pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 2-5-rayed, 0.05-0.25 mm; ovules 28-40 per ovary; style 0.1-0.3(-0.4) mm. Seeds ovoid, 0.5-0.7 × 0.3-0.5 mm. 2n = 32.
Flowering Jul-Aug. Rock outcrops, talus, exposed ridges, alpine areas; 3100-4100 m; Calif.
The circumscription of Draba breweri was expanded by R. C. Rollins (1993) to include D. cana. Plants of D. cana differ from those of D. breweri by being non-cespitose (versus cespitose) and taller [(4-)10-30(-38) versus (1-)2-9(-15) cm], and by having basally bracteate (versus ebracteate) racemes, and stems, pedicels, and sepals pubescent with a mixture of simple and branched (versus exclusively branched) trichomes. Draba breweri is known to us from Alpine, Fresno, Inyo, Mono, Plumas, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties.
