Boechera puberula |
Boechera atrorubens |
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Blue Mountain rockcress, hoary rock-cress, silver rockcress |
black-flower rockcress, dark-red-flower rockcress, purple sickle-pod rock-cress, sicklepod rockcress |
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Habit | Perennials; short-lived; sexual; caudex not woody. | Perennials; usually short-lived; sexual; caudex not woody. |
Stems | usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of rosette near ground surface, (1–)2–6.3 dm, densely pubescent proximally, trichomes short-stalked, 3–8-rayed, 0.1–0.3(–0.5) mm, similarly pubescent distally. |
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. |
Basal leaves | blade oblanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, 1.5–5 mm wide, margins usually dentate, not ciliate, surfaces densely pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 5–12-rayed, 0.05–0.2 mm. |
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. |
Cauline leaves | 7–45(–65), concealing stem proximally; blade auricles absent or 0.7–3 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves pubescent. |
7–25, concealing stem proximally; blade auricles 1–4 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves glabrous. |
Racemes | 10–40(–64)-flowered, usually unbranched. |
6–20-flowered, usually unbranched. |
Flowers | ascending to descending at anthesis; sepals pubescent; petals white to lavender, 5–9 × 0.8–1.8 mm, glabrous; pollen ellipsoid. |
ascending at anthesis; sepals pubescent; petals dark reddish purple (drying indigo), 7–9 × 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; pollen ellipsoid. |
Fruiting pedicels | pendent, recurved distal to horizontal to ascending base, 4–10 mm, pubescent, trichomes appressed, branched. |
ascending, usually straight, 5–10 mm, glabrous or pubescent, trichomes spreading, simple. |
Fruits | closely pendent, rarely appressed to rachis, sometimes somewhat secund, usually straight, edges parallel, 3–6.5 cm × 1.9–2.2 mm; valves pubescent throughout; ovules 38–64 per ovary; style 0.05–0.1 mm. |
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. |
Seeds | uniseriate, 1.4–1.8 × 1–1.4 mm; wing continuous, 0.1–0.3 mm wide. |
uniseriate, 1.2–1.7 × 0.9–1.2 mm; wing lateral and distal, 0.1–0.2 mm wide. |
2n | = 14. |
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Boechera puberula |
Boechera atrorubens |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | Flowering Apr–May. |
Habitat | Ledges, rocky slopes, gravelly hillsides in sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, and mountain shrub communities | Rocky summits and sandy loam on sagebrush slopes |
Elevation | 1300-2900 m (4300-9500 ft) | ca. 600 m (ca. 2000 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; NV; OR; UT
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OR; WA
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Discussion | Boechera puberula is a diploid species that appears to intergrade with both B. retrofracta and B. subpinnatifida. The glabrous-fruited specimens discussed by R. C. Rollins (1993) represent apomictic hybrids with other species, primarily B. pendulocarpa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 399. | FNA vol. 7, p. 366. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Arabis puberula, Arabis arida, Arabis beckwithii, Arabis lignipes var. impar, Arabis sabulosa, Arabis subpinnatifida var. beckwithii, Arabis subpinnatifida var. impar, B. beckwithii | Arabis atrorubens, Arabis atriflora, Arabis sparsiflora var. atrorubens |
Name authority | (Nuttall) Dorn: Brittonia, 55: 3. (2003) | (Suksdorf ex Greene) Windham & Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 64. (2006) |
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