Boechera shockleyi |
Boechera pulchra |
|
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Shockley's Rock cress |
beautiful rockcress |
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Habit | Perennials; usually short-lived; sexual; caudex not woody, (rarely with persistent, crowded leaf bases). | Perennials; long-lived; sexual; caudex woody. |
Stems | usually 1 per caudex branch, arising from center of rosette near ground surface, (0.8–)2–5 dm, densely pubescent proximally, trichomes short-stalked, 7–12-rayed, 0.1–0.2 mm, densely to sparsely pubescent distally. |
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. |
Basal leaves | blade oblanceolate, 3–10 mm wide, margins entire, not ciliate, surfaces densely pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 7–12-rayed, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
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. |
Cauline leaves | 14–60, concealing stem for most of length; blade auricles 0.5–4 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves densely pubescent. |
10–30, often concealing stem proximally; blade auricles absent or, rarely, to 0.5 mm, surfaces of distalmost leaves pubescent. |
Racemes | 20–70-flowered, usually unbranched. |
8–25-flowered, usually unbranched. |
Flowers | ascending at anthesis; sepals pubescent; petals lavender, 6–9 × 0.8–1.2 mm, glabrous; pollen ellipsoid. |
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. |
Fruiting pedicels | divaricate-ascending, straight, 7–28 mm, pubescent, trichomes appressed, branched. |
reflexed, abruptly recurved at base, otherwise straight, 8–16 mm, pubescent, trichomes appressed, branched. |
Fruits | divaricate-ascending, not appressed to rachis, not secund, usually curved, rarely straight, edges parallel, 4.5–11 cm × 1.5–2 mm; valves glabrous or sparsely pubescent throughout; ovules 140–190 per ovary; style 0.05–0.6 mm. |
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. |
Seeds | sub-biseriate, 1–1.3 × 0.7–0.8 mm; wing distal or, rarely, absent, 0.05–0.1 mm wide. |
biseriate, 1.7–2.8 × 1.5–2.2 mm; wing continuous, 0.25–0.65 mm wide. |
Boechera shockleyi |
Boechera pulchra |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–May. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Rock outcrops (primarily dolomite) and gravelly soil in desert scrub, sagebrush, and pinyon-juniper woodlands | Rocky, gravelly or sandy slopes in chaparral, sagebrush and desert scrub communities |
Elevation | 1200-2200 m (3900-7200 ft) | 800-2800 m (2600-9200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; NV; UT
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CA; NV; Mexico (Baja California)
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Discussion | Boechera shockleyi is a distinctive sexual species recognizable by the combination of strongly overlapping cauline leaves, a dense covering of minute, 7–12-rayed trichomes, and relatively long, curved, divaricate-ascending fruits with sub-biseriate seeds. It is most similar to B. inyoensis, but differs from that species in its narrower (0.8–1.2 versus 1.2–2 mm) petals, eciliate basal leaves with smaller (0.1–0.2 versus 0.2–0.7 mm) trichomes, greater number (140–190 versus 74–134) of ovules per ovary, and shorter (1–1.3 versus 1.7–2 mm) seeds with distal (versus continuous) wings. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 406. | FNA vol. 7, p. 400. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera | Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Boechera |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Arabis shockleyi | Arabis pulchra |
Name authority | (Munz) Dorn: Brittonia 55: 3. (2003) | (M. E. Jones ex S. Watson) W. A. Weber: Phytologia 51: 370. (1982) |
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