Boechera atrorubens |
Boechera grahamii |
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black-flower rockcress, dark-red-flower rockcress, purple sickle-pod rock-cress, sicklepod rockcress |
Graham's rockcress, Graham's suncress |
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Habit | Perennials; usually short-lived; sexual; caudex not woody. | Biennials or perennials; short-lived; apomictic; caudex present or absent. |
Stems | usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of rosette near ground surface, 0.8–6 dm, sparsely pubescent proximally, trichomes short-stalked and simple, (scattered), 2-rayed, 0.1–0.15 mm, glabrous distally. |
usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of rosette near ground surface, (1.2–)2–12 dm, glabrous or pubescent proximally, trichomes simple and sessile or subsessile, 2 or 3(–6)-rayed, to 1 mm, glabrous distally. |
Basal leaves | blade oblanceolate, 4–10 mm wide, margins usually dentate, not ciliate, surfaces densely pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 3- or 4-rayed, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
blade oblanceolate, 1.5–10(–20) mm wide, margins entire or dentate, ciliate proximally, trichomes (simple), to 1 mm, surfaces sparsely to densely pubescent, trichomes sessile or subsessile, 2–4(–7)-rayed, 0.2–0.6 mm. |
Cauline leaves | 7–25, concealing stem proximally; blade auricles 1–4 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves glabrous. |
(10–)13–52, often concealing stem proximally; blade auricles 1–5 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves glabrous. |
Racemes | 6–20-flowered, usually unbranched. |
16–88-flowered, usually unbranched. |
Flowers | ascending at anthesis; sepals pubescent; petals dark reddish purple (drying indigo), 7–9 × 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; pollen ellipsoid. |
divaricate at anthesis; sepals glabrous or pubescent; petals usually white, rarely lavender, 5.5–8 × 1–2 mm, glabrous; pollen spheroid. |
Fruiting pedicels | ascending, usually straight, 5–10 mm, glabrous or pubescent, trichomes spreading, simple. |
divaricate-ascending to descending, usually gently curved downward, rarely straight, 5–22(–30) mm, glabrous. |
Fruits | ascending, not appressed to rachis, not secund, curved or straight, edges parallel, (4–)6–12 cm × 1.7–2.2 mm; valves glabrous; ovules 80–100 per ovary; style 0.2–0.5 mm. |
divaricate-ascending to pendent, not appressed to rachis, not secund, straight or slightly curved, edges parallel, 3.5–9 cm × 1–1.8 mm; valves glabrous; ovules 84–146 per ovary; style 0.05–0.5 mm. |
Seeds | uniseriate, 1.2–1.7 × 0.9–1.2 mm; wing lateral and distal, 0.1–0.2 mm wide. |
uniseriate to sub-biseriate, 1–1.8 × 0.8–1.2 mm; wing continuous, 0.1–0.25 mm wide. |
2n | = 21. |
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Boechera atrorubens |
Boechera grahamii |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–May. | Flowering May–Aug. |
Habitat | Rocky summits and sandy loam on sagebrush slopes | Rocky slopes and sandy soil in prairies and open forests |
Elevation | ca. 600 m (ca. 2000 ft) | 100-3200 m (300-10500 ft) |
Distribution |
OR; WA
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AK; CO; MI; MN; MT; ND; NY; SD; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT
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Discussion | Boechera atrorubens is often treated as a variety of B. sparsiflora (e.g., R. C. Rollins 1993), it is readily separated from that species by having proximal stems sparsely (versus densely) pubescent with much smaller (0.15 versus 1.5 mm) trichomes. The two taxa rarely grow in proximity and, in areas where they are sympatric, B. atrorubens is further distinguished by its narrower (1.5–2 versus 2–5 mm) petals that are dark reddish purple to indigo (versus lavender or white). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Morphological evidence suggests that Boechera grahamii is an apomictic species that arose through hybridization between B. collinsii and B. stricta. Previous authors have assigned these specimens to Arabis (Boechera) divaricarpa (see M. D. Windham and I. A. Al-Shehbaz 2007b for detailed comparison); if these taxa are treated as conspecific, the name B. grahamii has priority. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 366. | FNA vol. 7, p. 382. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Arabis atrorubens, Arabis atriflora, Arabis sparsiflora var. atrorubens | Turritis grahamii, Arabis boivinii, Arabis bourgovii, Arabis confinis, Arabis confinis var. brachycarpa, Arabis dacotica, Arabis divaricarpa var. dacotica, Arabis divaricarpa var. hemicylindrica, Arabis divaricarpa var. stenocarpa, Arabis drummondii var. brachycarpa, Arabis holboellii var. brachycarpa, B. brachycarpa, Turritis brachycarpa |
Name authority | (Suksdorf ex Greene) Windham & Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 64. (2006) | (Lehmann) Windham & Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 12: 241. (2007) |
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