About Kumlienia hystricula (A.Gray) Greene
Kumlienia hystricula is a small perennial herb that grows from fleshy roots and a thick caudex. It produces a basal rosette of hairless green leaves; these leaves are rounded with several round lobes. Each leaf is 1 to 3 centimeters wide, and grows on a long petiole. Several inflorescences emerge from the plant patch, borne on erect to drooping peduncles that reach up to around 20 centimeters tall. Each flower has 5 or 6 white sepals that resemble petals. The actual petals are much smaller shiny yellow-green structures that curve around the center of the bloom. Many stamens and pistils are located in the flower's center. The fruits are bristly lance-shaped bodies a few millimeters long, and they grow clustered together. Kumlienia hystricula is endemic to the Sierra Nevada in California, where it grows in wet areas within the range's coniferous forests.
