Boechera pulchra |
Boechera davidsonii |
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beautiful rockcress |
Davidson's rock-cress |
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Habit | Perennials; long-lived; sexual; caudex woody. | Perennials; long-lived; (cespitose); sexual; caudex woody (thickly covered by persistent, crowded leaf bases). |
Stems | usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of leaf tufts, elevated above ground surface on woody base, (1.5–)3–7.5 dm, densely pubescent proximally, trichomes short-stalked, usually 4–7-rayed, 0.1–0.3 mm, similarly pubescent distally. |
usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of rosette near ground surface, 0.6–2.3 dm, glabrous throughout. |
Basal leaves | blade linear to linear-oblanceolate, 1–3 mm wide, margins entire, not ciliate, surfaces densely pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 4–9-rayed, 0.1–0.3 mm. |
blade oblanceolate, 3.5–14 mm wide, margins usually entire, rarely slightly dentate, not ciliate, surfaces glabrous. |
Cauline leaves | 10–30, often concealing stem proximally; blade auricles absent or, rarely, to 0.5 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves pubescent. |
3–10, not concealing stem; blade auricles absent, glabrous. |
Racemes | 8–25-flowered, usually unbranched. |
4–24-flowered, usually unbranched. |
Flowers | descending at anthesis; sepals pubescent; petals usually purple, rarely white, 9–16 × 2–4(–5) mm, sparsely pubescent or glabrous (trichomes scattered abaxially); pollen ellipsoid. |
ascending at anthesis; sepals glabrous; petals white to lavender, 6–10 × 2.5–4 mm, glabrous; pollen ellipsoid. |
Fruiting pedicels | reflexed, abruptly recurved at base, otherwise straight, 8–16 mm, pubescent, trichomes appressed, branched. |
ascending, straight, 3–18 mm, glabrous. |
Fruits | strongly reflexed, often appressed to rachis, sometimes somewhat secund, straight, edges parallel, 3.3–8 cm × 2.5–4 mm; valves pubescent throughout; ovules 68–106 per ovary; style 0.1–0.3 mm. |
ascending to divaricate-ascending, not appressed to rachis, not secund, straight to slightly curved, edges parallel, 2.5–7 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm; valves glabrous; ovules 28–50 per ovary; style 0.1–0.8 mm. |
Seeds | biseriate, 1.7–2.8 × 1.5–2.2 mm; wing continuous, 0.25–0.65 mm wide. |
uniseriate, 1.8–2.2 × 0.8–1.7 mm; wing distal or continuous, 0.1–0.5 mm wide. |
Boechera pulchra |
Boechera davidsonii |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jul. |
Habitat | Rocky, gravelly or sandy slopes in chaparral, sagebrush and desert scrub communities | Ledges and crevices of rock outcrops |
Elevation | 800-2800 m (2600-9200 ft) | 1200-3400 m (3900-11200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; NV; Mexico (Baja California)
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CA; NV; OR
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Discussion | Boechera pulchra is a distinctive diploid separated from related sexual species (B. formosa and B. lincolnensis) by abruptly recurved fruiting pedicels and purple flowers, and from apomictic hybrids (e.g., B. xylopoda) by having fruits densely pubescent throughout. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Plants of Boechera davidsonii sometimes are confused with completely glabrous individuals of B. lyallii, and G. A. Mulligan (1996) treated it as a synonym of the latter. It is easily distinguished from B. lyallii by the thick covering of persistent leaf bases on caudex branches, ascending (versus erect and appressed) fruits, and uniseriate (versus biseriate to sub-biseriate) seeds. Boechera davidsonii is nearly unique among western North American species of the genus in showing no evidence of hybridization with other species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 400. | FNA vol. 7, p. 372. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Arabis pulchra | Arabis davidsonii, Arabis bruceae, Arabis cognata, Arabis davidsonii var. parva, Arabis lyallii var. davidsonii |
Name authority | (M. E. Jones ex S. Watson) W. A. Weber: Phytologia 51: 370. (1982) | (Greene) N. H. Holmgren: in A. Cronquist et al., Intermount. Fl. 2(B): 368. (2005) |
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