Perennials; (densely cespitose); caudex branched (covered with persistent leaves or leaf remains, branches sometimes terminating in sterile rosettes); scapose. Stems unbranched, (0.15-) 0.3-0.7(-1) dm, glabrous throughout or pubescent proximally, trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.1-0.4 mm. Basal leaves rosulate; petiolate; petiole base and margin ciliate, (trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.3-1 mm); blade oblanceolate to oblong-obovate or oblong, 0.4-0.7(-1) cm × 1-3(-5) mm, margins entire, surfaces pubescent abaxially with short-stalked, 2-5-rayed trichomes, 0.1-0.4 mm, adaxially glabrous or sparsely pubescent, with simple and short-stalked, 2-rayed trichomes. Cauline leaves 0. Racemes 2-10(-16)-flowered, ebracteate, elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, glabrous. Fruiting pedicels ascending, straight, (3-)5-12(-16) mm, glabrous. Flowers: sepals ovate, 2.8-3.5 mm, sparsely pubescent, (trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2-4-rayed); petals yellow, spatulate to oblanceolate, 4-6 × 2-3 mm; anthers oblong, 0.6-0.7 mm. Fruits oblong to lanceolate or narrowly ovate, twisted (curved), flattened, (5-)8-15(-20) × 2-4(-5) mm; valves usually glabrous, rarely pubescent, trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2-rayed, (marginal), 0.5-0.15 mm; ovules 16-20 per ovary; style (0.5-)0.9-1.8(-2) mm. Seeds oblong, 1-1.6 × 0.6-0.7 mm. 2n = 36.

Flowering Jul-Aug. Granitic outcrops and rocky slopes in open subalpine conifer communities; of conservation concern; 3300-3800 m; Calif.

Draba sharsmithii is clearly related to D. cruciata; there is some evidence that it may be an allopolyploid incorporating a genome from that species. It is known only from the vicinity of Mount Whitney in the southern Sierra Nevada (Inyo County).