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Lemmon's jewelflower, Lemmon's wild cabbage

Habit Annuals; hispid basally, subglabrate or glabrous distally.
Stems

erect or ascending, usually branched distally, 1–8 dm, sparsely hispid basally.

Basal leaves

rosulate;

petiole 0.3–3 cm;

blade oblanceolate, 0.7–9 cm × 4–25 mm, margins coarsely dentate-sinuate.

Cauline leaves

(median) sessile;

blade lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 0.5–11 cm × 2–45 mm, (smaller distally, base amplexicaul), margins entire or denticulate.

Racemes

(densely flowered), with a terminal cluster of sterile flowers.

Flowers

sepals erect to ascending, (dark purple in bud, becoming greenish or creamy white and purplish or brown distally), ovate to narrowly lanceolate, 6–17 × 2.5–3.5 mm (subequal, keeled, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent, trichomes simple);

petals white (with dark purple veins), 8–20 mm, blade 4–8 × 1.5–2 mm, crisped, claw oblanceolate, 4–11 × 2–3 mm;

filaments in 3 unequal pairs, (median pairs often connate), abaxial pair 3.5–11mm, lateral pair 2–7 mm, adaxial pair 5–12 mm;

anthers oblong to linear-oblong, unequal, 1.5–4 mm, (adaxial pair smaller).

Fruiting pedicels

ascending to divaricate, 3–18(–27) mm, pubescent or glabrous.

Fruits

erect or ascending (often straight), terete or slightly latiseptate, 5–12 cm × 2.5–3.5 mm;

valves each with prominent midvein basally;

ovules 52–72 per ovary;

style 0–4 mm;

stigma strongly 2-lobed (lobes 1–4 mm, opposite valves).

Seeds

2–3.5 × 1.7–2.2 mm.

2n

= 28.

Caulanthus lemmonii

Phenology Flowering (Feb-)Mar–May.
Habitat Grassland, chaparral, scrub
Elevation 100-1100 m (300-3600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Both R. C. Rollins (1993) and R. E. Buck (1995) treated Caulanthus lemmonii as a variety of C. coulteri, whereas E. B. Payson (1923) treated the two as independent species. The differences between them clearly justify their separate recognition. In fact, those differences are far greater than those that distinguish the minor color form “barbarae” that both Rollins and Buck recognized as a distinct variety of C. amplexicaulis. The types of both C. coulteri and C. lemmonii are quite distinct. The slight intergradation between the two taxa, especially in occurrence of branched trichomes and lobing of cotyledons, most likely resulted from hybridization, but that needs to be verified experimentally and molecularly.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 684.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Thelypodieae > Caulanthus
Sibling taxa
C. amplexicaulis, 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. major, C. pilosus, C. simulans
Synonyms C. coulteri var. lemmonii, Streptanthus coulteri var. lemmonii, Streptanthus parryi
Name authority S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 23: 261. (1888)
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