Draba alpina |
Draba cana |
|
---|---|---|
alpine Draba |
Brewer's Draba, canescent Draba, canescent whitlow-mustard, cushion Draba, hoary Draba, hoary whitlow-grass, lance-leaf Draba, lance-leaf whitlow-grass |
|
Habit | Perennials; (cespitose); caudex branched (covered with persistent leaves or leaf remains); scapose. | Perennials; caudex simple or branched (branches short); not scapose. |
Stems | unbranched, (0.3–)0.5–1.7(–2.8) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.3–0.8 mm, with 3–5-rayed ones, 0.1–0.3 mm. |
unbranched or branched distally, (0.6–)1–3(–3.8) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes simple, 0.5–1mm, with 4–10-rayed ones, 0.05–0.2 mm (mostly branched on basal parts). |
Basal leaves | rosulate; petiolate; petiole base (not thickened), ciliate, (trichomes simple, 0.3–1 mm); blade oblanceolate to obovate or lanceolate to oblong, 0.8–3(–4.5) cm × 2.5–6(–9) mm, margins entire, surfaces abaxially pubescent with stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes, 0.1–0.5 mm, with simple ones (midvein obscure, not thickened), adaxially glabrous or sparsely pubescent with simple and stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes. |
rosulate; petiolate; petiole ciliate throughout; blade linear to oblanceolate or oblong, (0.5–)0.8–2(–3.5) cm × 1.5–4(–11) mm, margins entire or dentate, (base and apex ciliate, trichomes simple, 0.3–0.8 mm), surfaces pubescent with short-stalked, 4–12-rayed trichomes, 0.1–0.3 mm. |
Cauline leaves | 0. |
3–10(–17), (not overlapping); sessile; blade lanceolate to ovate or oblong, margins entire or dentate, surfaces pubescent as basal (adaxially with simple and forked trichomes near blade base). |
Racemes | 6–18-flowered, ebracteate, considerably elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, pubescent as stem. |
(10–)15–47(–63)-flowered, basally bracteate, often considerably elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, densely pubescent, trichomes 4–10-rayed (0.05–0.2 mm), and fewer simple ones. |
Flowers | sepals (purplish tinged), narrowly ovate, 2.5–3 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and fewer, stalked, 2-rayed); petals bright yellow, narrowly obovate, 3.5–5 × 1.7–2.5 mm; anthers ovate, 0.3–0.4 mm. |
sepals (green or lavender), oblong to ovate, 1.5–2 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and few-rayed); petals white, oblanceolate to spatulate, 2.3–3.7(–4.5) × 0.7–1.7 mm; anthers ovate, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | ascending to divaricate-ascending, straight or, sometimes, slightly curved upwards, 4–14(–30) mm, pubescent, trichomes simple and 2–4-rayed. |
suberect or ascending, straight, 2–5(–10) mm, pubescent as rachis. |
Fruits | elliptic, plane, flattened, 6–10 × 2–3 mm; valves glabrous or glabrescent, trichomes simple, (not confined to replum); ovules 12–24 per ovary; style 0.2–0.3 mm (stigma about as wide as style). |
(subappressed to rachis), linear-lanceolate to linear or, rarely, ovate-oblong, slightly twisted or plane, flattened, (5–)6–11 × 1.5–2(–2.5) mm; valves pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, 3–7-rayed, 0.05–0.3 mm; ovules 28–48 per ovary; style 0.1–0.6 mm. |
Seeds | (pale brown), ovoid, 0.9–1.3 × 0.6–0.9 mm. |
ovoid, 0.5–0.7(–0.9) × 0.3–0.5 mm. |
2n | = 80. |
= 32. |
Draba alpina |
Draba cana |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering (May-)Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Moist tundra and ridges, sand and gravel flats or beaches | Rock outcrops and talus, open prairie benchlands, roadsides, meadows, alpine tundra |
Elevation | 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | 0-4100 m (0-13500 ft) |
Distribution |
LB; MB; NU; ON; QC; Greenland; Europe (Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden)
|
AK; CA; CO; ID; ME; MI; MT; NH; NM; NV; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland
|
Discussion | The synonymy above includes two North American names overlooked by C. L. Hitchcock (1941) and R. C. Rollins (1993). Draba alpina was broadly delimited by O. E. Schulz (1927) and included 17 varieties, some of which (e.g., corymbosa, oxycarpa, pilosa) are recognized herein as distinct species. The name D. alpina was so misapplied that it was used for any circumpolar or alpine, scapose, yellow-flowered, perennial Draba. Various chromosome numbers (e.g., 2n = 64, 80, 112, 120; S. I. Warwick and I. A. Al-Shehbaz 2006) have been reported for the species. As circumscribed here, it has the narrow distribution outlined above and includes plants with 2n = 80. Reports of the species from Alaska, Canadian Northwest Territories and Yukon, Siberia, eastern Asia, Russian Far East, and the Central Asian republics are either suspect or very unlikely. The entire D. alpina complex (including the above three species, D. glacialis Adams, D. macounii, etc.) is in need of critical molecular, cytological, and morphological study. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The limits of Draba cana have long been confused, and the species was treated as a synonym of the Himalayan D. lanceolata Royle (M. L. Fernald 1934; C. L. Hitchcock 1941) or as a variety of the western North American D. breweri (R. C. Rollins 1993). However, G. A. Mulligan (1971) clearly demonstrated that all three are distinct and should be maintained. Some Utah plants corresponding to the type of D. valida have shorter and wider oblong-ovate fruits. In all other aspects, they are indistinguishable from D. cana. Additional studies are needed to establish whether such plants should be formally recognized. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 290. | FNA vol. 7, p. 298. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. alpina var. hydeana, D. alpina var. inflatisiliqua | D. breweri var. cana, D. valida |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 642. (1753) | Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 29: 241. (1902) |
Web links |
|