Flora of North America species comparison

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Arabis alpina

alpine rockcress, arabis alpina
Habit Perennials; (stoloniferous, with vegetative rosettes, loosely cespitose to somewhat pulvinate); sparsely to moderately pubescent, trichomes stalked, cruciform, stellate, mixed with simple and forked-stalked ones.
Stems

usually simple from base, erect to ascending, often branched proximally, (0.6–)1–2(–2.5) dm.
Basal leaves

petiole 0–1 cm;

blade spatulate, oblanceolate, oblong, or obovate, (0.4–)1–4(–5) cm × (3–)6–15(–20) mm, margins dentate to denticulate, apex obtuse or acute, surfaces usually pubescent, rarely subglabrate, trichomes stellate with simple rays.
Cauline leaves

3–5(–6);

blade oblong or ovate, 1–3 cm × 5–15 mm, base subcordate or auriculate, margins usually dentate, rarely subentire, apex acute or obtuse.
Racemes

simple, (lax).
Flowers

sepals oblong, 2.5–4(–4.7) × 1–2 mm, lateral pair conspicuously saccate basally;

petals white, spatulate to obovate, 5–8(–9) × 2–3.5 mm, apex obtuse;

filaments 3–5 mm;

anthers oblong, 0.7–1.2 mm.
Fruiting pedicels

ascending to divaricate, 4–10(–12) mm.
Fruits

ascending to spreading, torulose, 1.7–3.5(–4) cm × 1–1.7 mm;

valves each with midvein absent or obscure, along proximal 1/2;

ovules 34–50 per ovary;

style 0.3–0.6 mm.
Seeds

narrowly winged throughout, ovate, 1–1.4 × 0.9–1.1 mm;

wing 0.1–0.2 mm wide.
2n

= 16.

Arabis alpina
Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Crevices of limestone rocks, along streams, calcareous alpine meadows, Salix scrub on slopes with scree
Elevation 0-2400 m (0-7900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NY; WA; NL; NU; QC; Greenland; Europe; sw Asia; n Africa; tropical Africa
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Arabis alpina, the generic type, is variable. It is cultivated extensively for its attractive flowers, and it sometimes escapes from cultivation. There is disagreement as to whether one or more species should be recognized in this complex. European, some African, and most North American plants are recognized as A. alpina; most of the larger-flowered, southwestern Asian plants, which are most commonly cultivated, are recognized as A. caucasica or as A. alpina subsp. caucasica (Willdenow) Briquet. In my opinion, the morphological differences between the two (see key, couplet 3) support recognition of two species, as did R. C. Rollins (1993) and G. A. Mulligan (1996).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 259.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Arabis
Sibling taxa
A. aculeolata, A. blepharophylla, A. caucasica, A. crucisetosa, A. eschscholtziana, A. furcata, A. georgiana, A. mcdonaldiana, A. modesta, A. nuttallii, A. olympica, A. oregana, A. patens, A. pycnocarpa
Synonyms A. alpina var. glabrata
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 664. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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