Ivesia gordonii

Ivesia gordonii (Rosaceae), Gordon's ivesia or alpine ivesia, is a low cushion-forming perennial herb native to the mountains of the western United States, ranging through the Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Great Basin ranges, Rocky Mountains, and intermountain alpine zones from Washington and Oregon east to Wyoming and south to California and Nevada. It grows from a stout woody taproot crowned with persistent leaf bases. Numerous basal pinnately compound leaves form a tuft of cylindric, gland-dotted, fern-like rosettes with many crowded leaflets. In summer, leafless scapes 5-25 cm tall bear dense head-like cymes of small yellow five-petalled flowers with conspicuous stamens. The fruit is a smooth achene. The species inhabits rocky alpine slopes, talus, and dry subalpine meadows.