Boechera arcuata |
Boechera xylopoda |
|
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arching rockcress, elegant rockcress |
beautiful rockcress, bigfoot hybrid rockcress |
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Habit | Perennials; usually long-lived; sexual; caudex often woody (well-developed). | Perennials; long-lived; apomictic; caudex woody. |
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 from per caudex branch, arising from center of leaf tuft, elevated above ground surface on woody base, (3–)5–7.5 dm, pubescent proximally, trichomes short-stalked, 2–5-rayed, 0.25–0.9 mm., similarly 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 linear-oblanceolate to oblanceolate, 3–7 mm wide, margins entire or somewhat dentate, ciliate near petiole base, trichomes (simple), to 1.5 mm, surfaces densely pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 4–8-rayed, 0.15–0.5 mm. |
Cauline leaves | 10–30(–45), often concealing stem proximally; blade auricles 2–5(–6) mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves pubescent. |
8–18, usually not concealing stem; blade auricles 1–2 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves sparsely pubescent. |
Racemes | 12–50(–70)-flowered, usually unbranched. |
20–38-flowered, usually unbranched. |
Flowers | ascending at anthesis; sepals pubescent; petals purple, 9–14 × 2–4 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent (trichomes abaxially); pollen ellipsoid. |
divaricate to pendent at anthesis; sepals pubescent; petals purple, 9–12 × 2–3.5 mm, sparsely pubescent (often some trichomes abaxially); pollen spheroid. |
Fruiting pedicels | usually divaricate-ascending, rarely horizontal, gently recurved or straight, 8–22 mm, pubescent, trichomes subappressed, 2–4-rayed. |
descending-divaricate, usually recurved, 9–20 mm, usually pubescent, rarely glabrous, trichomes subappressed, 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. |
reflexed, not appressed to rachis, not secund, straight, edges parallel, 5–7 cm × 2–2.5 mm; valves glabrous proximally, sparsely pubescent distally; ovules 98–126 per ovary; style 0.1–0.5 mm. |
Seeds | uniseriate or sub-biseriate, 1.5–1.7 × 1–1.2 mm; wing continuous, 0.1–0.2 mm wide. |
sub-biseriate, 2–2.5 × 1.3–1.6 mm; wing continuous, 0.2–0.25 mm wide. |
Boechera arcuata |
Boechera xylopoda |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Rocky hillsides and cliffs in pine forests and chaparral | Rock outcrops and gravelly slopes, often under shelter of shrubs in desert scrub, sagebrush, and chaparral communities |
Elevation | 300-1800 m (1000-5900 ft) | 900-2000 m (3000-6600 ft) |
Distribution |
CA
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CA; NV
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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.) |
Although usually treated as a variety of Arabis (Boechera) pulchra, B. xylopoda is an apomictic taxon that is morphologically intermediate between B. perennans and B. pulchra (see M. D. Windham and I. A. Al-Shehbaz 2007b for detailed comparison) and probably arose through hybridization between those two sexual diploids. Arabis trichopoda Greene (1908), not Turczaninow (1840) is an illegitimate name, sometimes found in synonymy with Boechera xylopoda. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 365. | FNA vol. 7, p. 411. |
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 pulchra var. gracilis, Arabis pulchra var. glabrescens, Arabis pulchra var. viridis, B. pulchra var. gracilis |
Name authority | (Nuttall) Windham & Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 64. (2006) | Windham & Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 12: 250. (2007) |
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