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boechera polyantha, silver suncrest

Habit Perennials; usually short-lived; sexual; caudex not woody.
Stems

usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of rosette near ground surface, 2.5–9 dm, densely pubescent proximally, trichomes short-stalked, 2–6-rayed, 0.1–0.7 mm, similarly pubescent distally.

Basal leaves

blade oblanceolate, 1.5–7 mm wide, margins entire or shallowly dentate, ciliate at petiole base, trichomes to 0.9 mm, surfaces densely pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 5–10-rayed, 0.1–0.25 mm.

Cauline leaves

16–42, concealing stem proximally;

blade auricles 0.5–1.5 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves pubescent.

Racemes

17–96-flowered, usually unbranched.

Flowers

descending at anthesis;

sepals pubescent;

petals white, 6–9 × 1–2.5 mm, sparsely pubescent abaxially;

pollen ellipsoid.

Fruiting pedicels

reflexed, abruptly recurved at base, otherwise straight, 7–13 mm, pubescent, trichomes appressed, branched.

Fruits

strongly reflexed, usually appressed to rachis, sometimes somewhat secund, straight, edges parallel, 3.5–7.2 cm × 1.2–1.5 mm;

valves densely pubescent;

ovules 74–110 per ovary;

styles 0.05–0.2 mm.

Seeds

uniseriate, 0.9–1.2 × 0.7–1 mm;

wing continuous, 0.05–0.1 mm wide.

Boechera polyantha

Phenology Flowering late Apr-early Jun.
Habitat Rocky, gravelly, and sandy slopes in open areas
Elevation 900-2500 m (3000-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Boechera polyantha is closely related to B. retrofracta, but is easily distinguished by densely pubescent fruits and scattered trichomes on abaxial petal surfaces.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 398.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera
Sibling taxa
B. acutina, B. arcuata, B. atrorubens, B. bodiensis, B. breweri, B. burkii, B. calderi, B. californica, B. canadensis, B. cascadensis, B. cobrensis, B. collinsii, B. consanguinea, B. constancei, B. covillei, B. crandallii, B. cusickii, B. davidsonii, B. dentata, B. depauperata, B. dispar, B. divaricarpa, B. drepanoloba, B. duchesnensis, B. elkoensis, B. evadens, B. falcatoria, B. falcifructa, B. fecunda, B. fendleri, B. fernaldiana, B. formosa, B. fructicosa, B. glareosa, B. glaucovalvula, B. goodrichii, B. gracilenta, B. gracilipes, B. grahamii, B. gunnisoniana, B. harrisonii, B. hastatula, B. hoffmannii, B. holboellii, B. horizontalis, B. howellii, B. inyoensis, B. johnstonii, B. koehleri, B. laevigata, B. languida, B. lasiocarpa, B. lemmonii, B. lignifera, B. lincolnensis, B. lyallii, B. macounii, B. microphylla, B. missouriensis, B. nevadensis, B. ophira, B. oxylobula, B. paddoensis, B. pallidifolia, B. parishii, B. pauciflora, B. paupercula, B. peirsonii, B. pendulina, B. pendulocarpa, B. perennans, B. perstellata, B. pinetorum, B. pinzliae, B. platysperma, B. porphyrea, B. pratincola, B. puberula, B. pulchra, B. pusilla, B. pygmaea, B. quebecensis, B. rectissima, B. repanda, B. retrofracta, B. rigidissima, B. rollei, B. rollinsiorum, B. rubicundula, B. saximontana, B. schistacea, B. serotina, B. serpenticola, B. shevockii, B. shockleyi, B. sparsiflora, B. spatifolia, B. stricta, B. subpinnatifida, B. suffrutescens, B. texana, B. tiehmii, B. tularensis, B. ultra-alsa, B. villosa, B. williamsii, B. xylopoda, B. yorkii
Synonyms Arabis polyantha, Arabis macdougalii
Name authority (Greene) Windham & Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 78. (2006)
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