Boechera arcuata |
Boechera davidsonii |
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arching rockcress, elegant rockcress |
Davidson's rock-cress |
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Habit | Perennials; usually long-lived; sexual; caudex often woody (well-developed). | Perennials; long-lived; (cespitose); sexual; caudex woody (thickly covered by persistent, crowded leaf bases). |
Stems | usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of rosette, elevated on woody base or from ground surface, (2–)3–8 dm, densely pubescent proximally, trichomes short-stalked, 2-rayed and simple, to 1 mm, pubescent distally. |
usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of rosette near ground surface, 0.6–2.3 dm, glabrous throughout. |
Basal leaves | blade linear to oblanceolate, 2–7(–12) mm wide, margins usually entire, rarely denticulate, ciliate along petiole, trichomes to 1.5 mm, surfaces densely pubescent, trichomes usually short-stalked, 2–5-rayed (rarely some simple), 0.4–0.8 mm. |
blade oblanceolate, 3.5–14 mm wide, margins usually entire, rarely slightly dentate, not ciliate, surfaces glabrous. |
Cauline leaves | 10–30(–45), often concealing stem proximally; blade auricles 2–5(–6) mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves pubescent. |
3–10, not concealing stem; blade auricles absent, glabrous. |
Racemes | 12–50(–70)-flowered, usually unbranched. |
4–24-flowered, usually unbranched. |
Flowers | ascending at anthesis; sepals pubescent; petals purple, 9–14 × 2–4 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent (trichomes abaxially); pollen ellipsoid. |
ascending at anthesis; sepals glabrous; petals white to lavender, 6–10 × 2.5–4 mm, glabrous; pollen ellipsoid. |
Fruiting pedicels | usually divaricate-ascending, rarely horizontal, gently recurved or straight, 8–22 mm, pubescent, trichomes subappressed, 2–4-rayed. |
ascending, straight, 3–18 mm, glabrous. |
Fruits | usually divaricate-ascending, rarely horizontal, not appressed to rachis, not secund, usually curved, edges parallel, (6–)8–13 cm × 1.5–2.2 mm; valves glabrous or trichomes relatively few, scattered; ovules 90–250 per ovary; style 0.01–0.5 mm. |
ascending to divaricate-ascending, not appressed to rachis, not secund, straight to slightly curved, edges parallel, 2.5–7 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm; valves glabrous; ovules 28–50 per ovary; style 0.1–0.8 mm. |
Seeds | uniseriate or sub-biseriate, 1.5–1.7 × 1–1.2 mm; wing continuous, 0.1–0.2 mm wide. |
uniseriate, 1.8–2.2 × 0.8–1.7 mm; wing distal or continuous, 0.1–0.5 mm wide. |
Boechera arcuata |
Boechera davidsonii |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jul. |
Habitat | Rocky hillsides and cliffs in pine forests and chaparral | Ledges and crevices of rock outcrops |
Elevation | 300-1800 m (1000-5900 ft) | 1200-3400 m (3900-11200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA
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CA; NV; OR
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Discussion | Although usually treated as a variety of Arabis (Boechera) sparsiflora (e.g., R. C. Rollins 1993), B. arcuata is easily distinguished from that species by having rachises and fruiting pedicels pubescent with subappressed, 2–4-rayed trichomes and a geographic range limited to southern and western California. By contrast, B. sparsiflora has rachises and fruiting pedicels with spreading, usually simple trichomes (sometimes glabrescent) and an allopatric distribution north and east of the Sierra Nevada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Plants of Boechera davidsonii sometimes are confused with completely glabrous individuals of B. lyallii, and G. A. Mulligan (1996) treated it as a synonym of the latter. It is easily distinguished from B. lyallii by the thick covering of persistent leaf bases on caudex branches, ascending (versus erect and appressed) fruits, and uniseriate (versus biseriate to sub-biseriate) seeds. Boechera davidsonii is nearly unique among western North American species of the genus in showing no evidence of hybridization with other species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 365. | FNA vol. 7, p. 372. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Streptanthus arcuatus, Arabis holboellii var. arcuata, Arabis maxima, Arabis sparsiflora var. arcuata | Arabis davidsonii, Arabis bruceae, Arabis cognata, Arabis davidsonii var. parva, Arabis lyallii var. davidsonii |
Name authority | (Nuttall) Windham & Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 64. (2006) | (Greene) N. H. Holmgren: in A. Cronquist et al., Intermount. Fl. 2(B): 368. (2005) |
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