Draba aurea |
Draba oblongata |
|
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golden Draba, golden Draba whitlow-grass, golden whitlow-grass, twisted-pod Draba |
Canadian arctic Draba |
|
Habit | Perennials; (not cespitose); caudex simple or branched; not scapose. | Perennials; (cespitose); caudex branched (with persistent leaf remains); sometimes scapose. |
Stems | sometimes branched distally, (0.5–) 1–3.5(–5.2) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes simple (non-crisped), 0.4–1.3 mm, and 3–6-rayed ones, 0.1–0.5 mm. |
unbranched, (0.2–)0.4–1.5(–1.9) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes simple, 0.4–0.8 mm, and short-stalked, 4–10-rayed, 0.05–0.3 mm, (mostly branched distally). |
Basal leaves | rosulate; petiolate; petiole (distinct or obscure) ciliate, (trichomes simple, to 0.8 mm); blade oblanceolate to obovate, (0.4–)1–3.7(–5) cm × (1–)2–7(–10) mm, margins entire or denticulate, surfaces pubescent, trichomes stalked, (2–)4–7 (or 8)-rayed, 0.2–0.5(–0.6) mm. |
rosulate; petiolate; petiole base and margin ciliate, (trichomes simple, 0.3–1 mm); blade oblanceolate to lanceolate, 0.4–1.5 cm × 1.5–5 mm, margins entire, surfaces pubescent with simple and stalked, 2- or 3-rayed trichomes, 0.4–1 mm, with short-stalked, 8–12-rayed, stellate ones, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
Cauline leaves | 5–20(–26); sessile; blade oblong to lanceolate or ovate, margins entire or dentate, surfaces pubescent as basal, sometimes adaxially with simple trichomes. |
0–2; sessile; blade oblong to broadly ovate, margins entire, surfaces pubescent as basal. |
Racemes | (10–)18–52(–72)-flowered, usually bracteate on proximalmost 1–12(–17) flowers, rarely ebracteate, elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, pubescent as stem. |
5–13(–18)-flowered, ebracteate, elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, pubescent as stem distally. |
Flowers | sepals (green or yellowish), oblong, 2.2–3 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and branched); petals yellow, oblanceolate, 3.5–5 × 1.5–2.5 mm; anthers ovate, 0.4–0.5 mm. |
sepals ovate, 2–3 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and short-stalked, mostly 2-rayed); petals white, spatulate to obovate, 3.5–5 × 1.5–2.5 mm; anthers ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | divaricate-ascending to ascending or suberect, straight, 3–13(–20) mm, pubescent as stem. |
divaricate to ascending, straight, 2–6(–8) mm, pubescent as rachis. |
Fruits | (often subappressed to rachis), lanceolate to linear-lanceolate or narrowly oblong, slightly twisted or plane, flattened, (6–)9–14(–17) × 2–3.5 mm; valves pubescent, trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2–4-rayed, 0.05–0.3 mm; ovules 28–38(–44) per ovary; style 0.5–1.2(–1.5) mm. |
elliptic to oblong, plane, slightly flattened, 4–8(–9.5) × 2–3(–4) mm; valves pubescent, trichomes short-stalked, (2–)5–12-rayed, 0.05–3 mm; ovules 24–36 per ovary; style 0.2–0.8 mm (stigma considerably wider than style, often appearing 2-lobed). |
Seeds | oblong, 0.9–1.3 × 0.5–0.7 mm. |
ovate, 0.7–1 × 0.5–0.6 mm. |
2n | = 74. |
= 64. |
Draba aurea |
Draba oblongata |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Rock outcrops, talus, damp gullies and meadows, subalpine conifer woodlands, alpine slopes and turf, tundra, road banks, river gravel | Ridges and hillsides, sand and gravel flood plains, swales, tundra |
Elevation | (0-)700-4200 m ((0-)2300-13800 ft) | 0-400 m (0-1300 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NF; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland
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AK; NT; NU; Greenland; e Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia) |
Discussion | Draba aurea is extremely variable in plant size, number of cauline leaves, number of bracteate flowers, style length, and fruit size, shape, orientation, twisting, and indumentum. Much of the variation in the number of bracts, style length, fruit twisting, and growth habit occurs in Greenland, where the type specimen was collected and where the species is found near sea level. The highly deviant chromosome counts (e.g., 2n = 40 + 1, 64, 82) listed by R. C. Rollins (1993) and S. I. Warwick and I. A. Al-Shehbaz (2006) are mostly unvouchered and have to be disregarded; counts of 2n = ca. 80 have been re-assigned to Draba glabella. Published (G. A. Mulligan 2002) and unpublished counts made by Mulligan and M. D. Windham from Alaska, British Columbia, Colorado, Quebec, Utah, and Yukon indicate that the most common chromosome number of D. aurea is 2n = 74 (or 72). This suggests that the species is an allopolyploid (hexaploid or higher), incorporating genomes from both euploid and aneuploid lineages (M. A. Beilstein and Windham 2003). Detailed cytological and molecular studies are much needed to fully understand this widely distributed and highly variable species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Plants of Draba oblongata are occasionally misidentified as decaploid (2n = 80) D. arctica, but the former is readily separated by a preponderance of simple (versus stellate) trichomes on both leaf blade surfaces. Draba oblongata is sometimes confused with D. micropetala, but the latter has pale yellow (versus white) flowers, fruits pubescent with simple and spurred (versus (2–)5–12-rayed) trichomes, and stigmas as wide as (versus much wider than) the style. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 294. | FNA vol. 7, p. 323. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. aurea var. aureiformis, D. aurea var. leiocarpa, D. aurea var. luteola, D. aureiformis, D. aureiformis var. leiocarpa, D. bakeri, D. decumbens, D. henneana var. maccallae, D. luteola, D. luteola var. minganensis, D. maccallae, D. minganensis, D. surculifera, D. uber | D. arctica subsp. groenlandica, D. cinerea subsp. groenlandica, D. groenlandica |
Name authority | Vahl ex Hornemann: Fors. Oecon. Plantel. ed. 2, 599. (1806) | R. Brown ex de Candolle: Syst. Nat. 2: 342. (1821) |
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