Draba aurea |
Draba zionensis |
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golden Draba, golden Draba whitlow-grass, golden whitlow-grass, twisted-pod Draba |
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Habit | Perennials; (not cespitose); caudex simple or branched; not scapose. | Perennials; (cespitose); caudex branched (with persistent leaf bases, branches sometimes terminating in sterile rosettes); 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, 0.5–1.5(–1.8) dm, usually sparsely pubescent proximally, usually glabrous distally, rarely throughout, trichomes simple, 0.3–0.8 mm, often with smaller, 2–4-rayed ones. |
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; shortly petiolate; petiole base sometimes ciliate (margin not ciliate, trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.2–0.5 mm); blade spatulate to obovate, 0.7–3.5 cm × 3–10(–12) mm, margins usually entire, rarely obscurely dentate (near apex), surfaces sparsely pubescent with stalked, (2–)4 (or 5)-rayed trichomes, 0.05–0.5 mm, (midvein obscure). |
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. |
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. |
14–36-flowered, ebracteate, elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, glabrous. |
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, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, (trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2–4-rayed); petals orange-yellow (fading pale yellow), broadly spatulate to subovate, 5–6 × 1.8–2.8 mm; anthers ovate, 0.4–0.5 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | divaricate-ascending to ascending or suberect, straight, 3–13(–20) mm, pubescent as stem. |
ascending to divaricate-ascending, straight, (not expanded basally), (4–)5–12(–15) mm, glabrous. |
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. |
lanceolate to linear-lanceolate or ovate, plane (not curved), flattened, 6–12(–17) × 2–3 mm; valves glabrous; ovules 12–20 per ovary; style 0.4–1 mm. |
Seeds | oblong, 0.9–1.3 × 0.5–0.7 mm. |
oblong, 1–1.3 × 0.6–0.8 mm. |
2n | = 74. |
= 26. |
Draba aurea |
Draba zionensis |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Rock outcrops, talus, damp gullies and meadows, subalpine conifer woodlands, alpine slopes and turf, tundra, road banks, river gravel | Sandstone (rarely limestone) rock outcrops and sandy slopes in pinyon-juniper or pine communities |
Elevation | (0-)700-4200 m ((0-)2300-13800 ft) | 1000-2500 m (3300-8200 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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UT |
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.) |
R. C. Rollins (1993) treated Draba zionensis as a variety of D. asprella, but its true relationships appear to lie with two other southern Utah endemics, D. sobolifera and D. subalpina. Draba zionensis is easily distinguished from D. subalpina by having orange-yellow (versus white) petals, and from D. asprella and D. sobolifera by its glabrous (versus pubescent) pedicels and stems distally. Nearly all populations of the species are found in and around Zion National Park in southwestern Utah (Iron, Kane, and Washington counties). A specimen supposedly from the Deep Creek Mountains (Juab County) may be mislabeled. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 294. | FNA vol. 7, p. 346. |
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. asprella var. zionensis |
Name authority | Vahl ex Hornemann: Fors. Oecon. Plantel. ed. 2, 599. (1806) | C. L. Hitchcock: Revis. Drabas W. N. Amer., 49, plate 2, fig. 16. (1941) |
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