Draba corymbosa |
Draba densifolia |
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Baffin bay Draba, Baffin bay whitlow-grass, flat-top Draba |
dense-leaf Draba, dense-leaf whitlow-grass, Nuttall's Draba, Nuttall's whitlow-grass |
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Habit | Perennials; (cespitose); caudex branched (with persistent leaves or leaf remains, branches sometimes terminating in sterile rosettes); scapose. | Perennials; (cespitose, pulvinate); caudex branched (dense with persistent leaf remains, branches sometimes terminating in sterile rosettes); scapose. |
Stems | unbranched, (0.05–)0.2–0.8(–1.5) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.4–1 mm, with 3–5-rayed ones, 0.05–0.4 mm, (sometimes trichomes mostly simple). |
unbranched, (0.05–)0.2–1(–1.7) dm, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent, trichomes usually simple, 0.3–0.8 mm, and 2–4 (or 5)-rayed, 0.1–0.6 mm, (rarely predominantly simple ones). |
Basal leaves | rosulate; petiolate; petiole base and margin ciliate, (trichomes often course, simple, 0.4–1.3 mm); blade oblanceolate to obovate, 0.6–1.8 cm × 1.5–5 mm, margins entire, surfaces pubescent, abaxially with stalked, 2–6-rayed trichomes, 0.2–0.6 mm, adaxially with primarily simple and stalked, 2-rayed trichomes, to 1.1 mm, with 3–5-rayed ones, 0.2–0.4 mm. |
rosulate; sessile; blade linear to oblong or oblanceolate-linear, 0.3–0.9(–1.4) cm × 0.5–1.5(–2) mm, margins entire, (ciliate, trichomes simple, 0.3–1.2 mm), surfaces glabrous or sparsely pubescent, abaxially with short-stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes, 0.1–0.3 mm (midvein prominent), adaxially rarely with subapical, simple trichomes. |
Cauline leaves | 0. |
0. |
Racemes | 2–9(–12)-flowered, ebracteate, (corymbose), slightly elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, pubescent as stem. |
2–10(–22)-flowered, ebracteate, not or slightly elongated in fruit; rachis not or slightly flexuous, glabrous or pubescent as stem. |
Flowers | sepals (grayish green), broadly ovate, 2.2–3 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple, to 1 mm, sometimes with stalked, smaller, 2–4-rayed ones); petals (broadly patent), yellow, obovate, 4–6 × 3–5 mm; anthers ovate, 0.3–0.4 mm. |
sepals ovate, 2–3 mm, usually sparsely pubescent, rarely glabrous, (trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2–4-rayed); petals pale yellow (sometimes fading white), oblanceolate to obovate, 2–5 × 1–1.7(–2) mm; anthers ovate or oblong, 0.4–0.6 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | divaricate-ascending, straight or slightly curved upward, 4–11(–16) mm, pubescent, trichomes simple and 2–4-rayed. |
divaricate-ascending to ascending (not decurrent basally), straight, (0.7–)1.5–10(–25) mm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent, trichomes predominantly simple (0.2–0.7 mm), sometimes 2–4 (or 5)-rayed, (0.1–0.5 mm). |
Fruits | oblong or ovate, plane, flattened, 6–12 × 3.5–5.5 mm; valves pubescent or puberulent, trichomes simple, 0.1–0.4 mm, (sometimes with short-stalked, 2- or 3-rayed ones); ovules 12–24 per ovary; style 0.6–1 mm (stigma distinctly wider than style). |
ovoid or ovate-lanceolate, plane (not curved), flattened, (2.5–)3–6(–8) × 2–3 mm; valves pubescent or puberulent, trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2–5-rayed, 0.1–0.4 mm; ovules 4–12 per ovary; style 0.3–0.6(–1) mm. |
Seeds | (brown), ovoid, 1–1.3 × 0.6–0.9 mm. |
oblong to ovoid, 1.2–2(–2.6) × 0.9–1.2(–1.4) mm. |
2n | = 128, 144. |
= 36. |
Draba corymbosa |
Draba densifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Moist tundra, among calcareous or dolomitic rocks, gravel beaches, silt and clay terraces | Rock outcrops and talus, rocky knolls, alpine ridges |
Elevation | 0-1700 m (0-5600 ft) | 800-3700 m (2600-12100 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; BC; NT; NU; YT; Greenland; Europe (Norway, n Russia); e Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia) |
AK; CA; ID; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | Draba corymbosa, which is 16-ploid or 18-ploid with x = 8, is an extremely variable species of polyphyletic, allopolyploid origin. Most individuals appear to have decaploid D. alpina (2n = 80) in their parentage, but the other genomes are provided by hexaploid (2n = 48) and octoploid (2n = 64) species (C. Brochmann et al. 1993). O. E. Schulz reduced D. corymbosa to a variety of D. alpina; R. C. Rollins (1993) treated it as a distinct species. Draba corymbosa is distinguished from D. alpina by having pubescent or puberulent (versus glabrous or glabrescent) fruits, corymbose (versus usually elongated) fruiting racemes, and abaxial leaf blade surfaces always lacking (versus usually with some) simple trichomes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Draba densifolia is one of the most highly variable North American members of the genus, as evidenced by the extensive synonymy. The species is an apomict (G. A. Mulligan 1976) and it occupies tremendous geographic, edaphic, and altitudinal ranges. In forms corresponding to the type of D. sphaerula, the flowering stems are 2-flowered, and the stems, leaves, and fruiting pedicels are to 5, 1.5, and 0.6 mm, respectively. By contrast, forms comparable to the type of D. caeruleomontana var. piperi have stems, leaves, and fruiting pedicels to 17, 1.3, and 2.5 cm, respectively. Between these remarkable extremes fall all of the other populations of the species. Draba densifolia is sometimes confused with D. paysonii, which it resembles, in being a cespitose, scapose, and densely pulvinate perennial having narrowly linear or oblong to linear-oblanceolate leaf blades with strongly ciliate margins. It is easily distinguished from the latter by having glabrous adaxial leaf blade surfaces, only sparsely pubescent abaxial surfaces, and often glabrous fruiting pedicels and rachises. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 301. | FNA vol. 7, p. 306. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. alpina var. bellii, D. alpina var. corymbosa, D. barbata, D. bellii, D. kjellmanii, D. macrocarpa, D. vestita | D. caeruleomontana, D. caeruleomontana var. piperi, D. glacialis var. pectinata, D. globosa var. sphaerula, D. mulfordiae, D. nelsonii, D. oligosperma var. pectinata, D. pectinata, D. sphaerula |
Name authority | R. Brown ex de Candolle: Syst. Nat. 2: 343. (1821) | Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 104. (1838) |
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