General: Heartleaf Twistflower (Streptanthus cordatus) is a small perennial herb with a basal rosette of leaves and usually a single flower stalk. The leaves are sessile, clasping, elongate, and toothed with prickly points. The inflorescense is a raceme, and flowers are not accompanied by leaf-like bracts. The flower is urn-shaped with 4 narrow petals, purple, long and thin, with a forked, two-lobed stigma, and relatively large anthers 2–6 mm). The fruits are a pea-like bean pod, generally glabrous

Heartleaf Twistflower is an uncommon component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained gravelly soils in the middle-elevation mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) and Transition (Yellow Pine Forest) life zones.

Family: Mustard Family (Brassicaceae).

Other Names: Jewelflower

Plant Form: Upright herb.

Height: short.

Stems: Single.

Leaves: Toothed, clasping.

Flowers: Purple, tubular, with lobed stigma.

Seeds:

Habitat: Pinyon-Juniper Woodland and Yellow Pine Forests

Elevation: 4,000 to 10,000 feet

Distribution: California and Nevada.

Comments: Look for this species during spring Desert National Wildlife Range, Mormon Well area and Basin and Range National Monument.