Boechera arcuata |
Boechera shockleyi |
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arching rockcress, elegant rockcress |
Shockley's Rock cress |
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Habit | Perennials; usually long-lived; sexual; caudex often woody (well-developed). | Perennials; usually short-lived; sexual; caudex not woody, (rarely with 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, (0.8–)2–5 dm, densely pubescent proximally, trichomes short-stalked, 7–12-rayed, 0.1–0.2 mm, densely to sparsely pubescent distally. |
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, 3–10 mm wide, margins entire, not ciliate, surfaces densely pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 7–12-rayed, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
Cauline leaves | 10–30(–45), often concealing stem proximally; blade auricles 2–5(–6) mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves pubescent. |
14–60, concealing stem for most of length; blade auricles 0.5–4 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves densely pubescent. |
Racemes | 12–50(–70)-flowered, usually unbranched. |
20–70-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 pubescent; petals lavender, 6–9 × 0.8–1.2 mm, glabrous; pollen ellipsoid. |
Fruiting pedicels | usually divaricate-ascending, rarely horizontal, gently recurved or straight, 8–22 mm, pubescent, trichomes subappressed, 2–4-rayed. |
divaricate-ascending, straight, 7–28 mm, pubescent, trichomes appressed, branched. |
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. |
divaricate-ascending, not appressed to rachis, not secund, usually curved, rarely straight, edges parallel, 4.5–11 cm × 1.5–2 mm; valves glabrous or sparsely pubescent throughout; ovules 140–190 per ovary; style 0.05–0.6 mm. |
Seeds | uniseriate or sub-biseriate, 1.5–1.7 × 1–1.2 mm; wing continuous, 0.1–0.2 mm wide. |
sub-biseriate, 1–1.3 × 0.7–0.8 mm; wing distal or, rarely, absent, 0.05–0.1 mm wide. |
Boechera arcuata |
Boechera shockleyi |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering Apr–May. |
Habitat | Rocky hillsides and cliffs in pine forests and chaparral | Rock outcrops (primarily dolomite) and gravelly soil in desert scrub, sagebrush, and pinyon-juniper woodlands |
Elevation | 300-1800 m (1000-5900 ft) | 1200-2200 m (3900-7200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA
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CA; NV; UT
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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.) |
Boechera shockleyi is a distinctive sexual species recognizable by the combination of strongly overlapping cauline leaves, a dense covering of minute, 7–12-rayed trichomes, and relatively long, curved, divaricate-ascending fruits with sub-biseriate seeds. It is most similar to B. inyoensis, but differs from that species in its narrower (0.8–1.2 versus 1.2–2 mm) petals, eciliate basal leaves with smaller (0.1–0.2 versus 0.2–0.7 mm) trichomes, greater number (140–190 versus 74–134) of ovules per ovary, and shorter (1–1.3 versus 1.7–2 mm) seeds with distal (versus continuous) wings. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 365. | FNA vol. 7, p. 406. |
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 shockleyi |
Name authority | (Nuttall) Windham & Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 64. (2006) | (Munz) Dorn: Brittonia 55: 3. (2003) |
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