Braya glabella subsp. prostrata
Braya glabella
smooth northern-rockcress
alpine braya, smooth northern-rockcress
decumbent to prostrate or weakly ascending, 0.3–1.5 dm.
simple or few to several from base, ascending or erect, rarely decumbent to prostrate, (0.1–)0.3–1.7(–2.3) dm.
blade not fleshy, to 6 mm wide, margins usually entire.
blade (often somewhat fleshy), linear-oblanceolate to broadly spatulate, (0.4–)0.8–6(–7.9) cm × (0.3–)0.6–4(–6) mm, base (membranous), broadly expanded near point of attachment, margins usually entire, sometimes weakly dentate with 1 or 2 teeth per side, apex obtuse, (often with a tuft of long, simple hairs, surfaces sparsely to moderately pubescent).
0 or 1 (or a leaflike bract subtending proximalmost pedicel). (Racemes elongated or not in fruit.) Fruiting pedicels ascending-erect to divaricate, (0.9–)1.9–7.5(–8.6) mm.
not elongated in fruit (often compact).
sepals (1.6–)1.9–3.7 × (0.7–)1–2 mm;
petals white or purplish (broadly obovate or spatulate), (2.1–)2.4–4.5(–4.7) × (0.7–)1–3(–3.2) mm, (apex rounded);
filaments 1.7–2.2 mm;
anthers oblong, 0.3–0.5 mm.
oblong-elliptic to broadly oblong-lanceoloid, straight or curved, (0.7–)0.8–1.2 cm × 2.5–3.6 mm, 2.5–3.7 times as long as wide;
style stout, 0.8–1.8 mm.
oval-elliptic, oblong-elliptic, oblong, or oblong-lanceoloid, sometimes slightly torulose, (straight or somewhat curved), (0.3–)0.5–1.2(–1.5) cm × (0.8–)1.1–3(–3.6) mm;
valves sparsely to densely pubescent or glabrous, trichomes simple or 2 (or 3)-forked;
septum margin not expanded or not basally;
ovules (5–)16–20 per ovary;
style (0.3–)0.5–1.8(–2) mm;
stigma entire or strongly 2-lobed, (narrow or broad).
biseriate, oblong, (0.7–)0.9–1.6 × 0.4–0.8(–0.9) mm.
= 56.
Braya glabella subsp. prostrata
Braya glabella
Subspecies prostrata is known only from Ellesmere Island.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
Braya glabella is extremely variable, sometimes even within a population, and the species has often been split into taxa based primarily on fruit attributes. When the species is examined from its entire range, the perceived morphological gaps blur into a bewildering array of overlapping forms. On the basis of morphological and molecular evidence (S. I. Warwick et al. 2004) it is difficult to justify the recognition of more than one species in this very plastic group, but it does seem useful to divide the species into three fairly distinctive subspecies. Some populations will be readily separable into one of these subspecies, but others will likely defy unequivocal placement, particularly those from areas where the ranges of the subspecies meet.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Fruits oblong to narrowly oblong-lanceoloid, 3.5-8.3 times as long as wide; racemes often loosely elongated in fruit. | subsp. glabella |
1. Fruits oval-elliptic to oblong-elliptic, rarely broadly oblong-lanceoloid, 2.5-3.7 times as long as wide; racemes not elongated in fruit, often compact | → 2 |
2. Stems decumbent to prostrate, sometimes weakly ascending; leaf blades not fleshy, to 6 mm wide; fruits 0.8-1.2 cm; styles 0.8-1.8 mm. | subsp. prostrata |
2. Stems ascending to erect; leaf blades often fleshy, to 4 mm wide; fruits 0.5-1 cm; styles 0.5- 1.2 mm. | subsp. purpurascens |
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