Flora of North America species comparison

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Caulanthus amplexicaulis

clasping leaf caulanthus, claspingleaf wild cabbage
Habit Annuals; glabrous throughout.
Stems

erect, unbranched or branched distally, 0.4–11 dm.
Basal leaves

rosulate;

petiole 0.5–3 cm;

blade obovate to broadly oblanceolate, 1–7 cm × 5–37 mm, margins coarsely dentate.
Cauline leaves

(median) sessile;

blade oblong to broadly ovate or obovate, 2–8 cm × 10–40 mm (smaller distally, base amplexicaul), margins coarsely dentate or entire.
Racemes

(lax), without a terminal cluster of sterile flowers.
Flowers

sepals erect, (dark maroon-purple or ochroleucous to yellowish), ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 4–9.2 × 2–4 mm (equal);

petals (abaxial pair) usually stramineous to yellowish green, rarely pale purple, (adaxial pair) purple, (slightly longer), 10–18 mm, blade 4–10 × 0.5–1.5mm, crisped, claw narrowly oblong-oblanceolate, 6–10 × 1–3 mm;

filaments in 3 unequal pairs, abaxial pair 3–7 mm, lateral pair 1–5 mm, adaxial pair 4.5–9 mm;

anthers oblong, unequal, 1–3.5 mm (adaxial pair smaller).
Fruiting pedicels

divaricate to ascending, 2.5–19 mm.
Fruits

divaricate to ascending (often distinctly curved), terete or slightly latiseptate, 4.5–14(–16.7) cm × 1–1.5 mm;

valves each with obscure midvein;

ovules 40–92 per ovary;

style 0–0.4 mm;

stigma subentire.
Seeds

1.4–2.2 × 0.9–1.2 mm.
2n

= 28.

Caulanthus amplexicaulis
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul(-Aug).
Habitat Chaparral, montane forests, serpentine areas, granitic and shale scree
Elevation 800-2900 m (2600-9500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Caulanthus amplexicaulis is known from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. The serpentine populations of Santa Barbara County have sepals that are ochroleucous to yellowish instead of the dark maroon ones found elsewhere in the species range. They were recognized by R. C. Rollins (1993) and R. E. Buck (1995) as var. barbarae. Both vars. barbarae and amplexicaulis form a distinct monophyletic clade but they are without reproductive barriers (A. E. Pepper and L. E. Norwood 2001). Some other species of Caulanthus show comparable or even greater variation in sepal color, and it might be more practical to treat var. barbarae as a color form.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 679.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Thelypodieae > Caulanthus
Sibling taxa
C. anceps, C. barnebyi, C. californicus, C. cooperi, C. coulteri, C. crassicaulis, C. flavescens, C. glaucus, C. hallii, C. heterophyllus, C. inflatus, C. lasiophyllus, C. lemmonii, C. major, C. pilosus, C. simulans
Synonyms C. amplexicaulis var. barbarae, Euklisia amplexicaulis, Pleiocardia magna, Streptanthus amplexicaulis, Streptanthus amplexicaulis var. barbarae
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 17: 364. (1882)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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