Draba glabella |
Draba sphaeroides |
|
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golden Draba, rock whitlow-grass, smooth Draba, smooth whitlow-grass, smooth whitlow-mustard |
ball Draba |
|
Habit | Perennials; (sometimes cespitose); caudex simple or branched; not scapose. | Perennials; (cespitose, densely pulvinate); caudex branched (branches often tangled with persistent leaf remnants, prostrate, slender, sometimes terminating in sterile rosettes); scapose. |
Stems | branched or unbranched, (0.4–)1–3.5(–4.7) dm, often pubescent throughout (sometimes sparsely so distally), sometimes glabrous, trichomes simple and 2-rayed, (non-crisped), 0.2–1 mm, or subsessile, stellate-pectinate, and 3–8-rayed, 0.1–0.3 mm. |
unbranched, (0.2–)0.3–0.8 dm, sparsely pubescent proximally, glabrous distally, trichomes usually 2- or 3-rayed, rarely some simple, 0.1–0.25 mm. |
Basal leaves | rosulate; petiolate; petiole ciliate, (trichomes simple, 0.1–0.8 mm); blade oblanceolate to spatulate or linear-oblanceolate, (0.6–)1–3.5(–5) cm × 2–8(–10) mm, margins dentate or denticulate, (pubescent as petiole), surfaces pubescent with non-crisped, minutely stalked, 4–8(–12)-rayed, stellate-pectinate trichomes, 0.15–0.6 mm, (midvein obscure abaxially), adaxially sometimes also with simple trichomes, or glabrous. |
not rosulate; subsessile; petiole margins not ciliate; blade oblanceolate to oblong or elliptic, 0.3–0.8(–0.9) cm × (1–)1.5–3(–4) mm, margins entire, (not ciliate), surfaces usually pubescent, rarely both surfaces glabrous (except margin), with stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes, 0.07–0.4 mm (or, rarely, trichomes mostly simple and 2-rayed adaxially). |
Cauline leaves | 2–17(–25); sessile; blade ovate to oblong, margins dentate to subentire, surfaces often pubescent as basal, or predominantly with simple trichomes adaxially. |
0. |
Racemes | (5–)8–26(–34)-flowered, ebracteate or proximalmost 1 or 2 flowers bracteate, elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent as stem. |
(3–)5–11(–14)-flowered, ebracteate, slightly elongated in fruit; rachis not flexuous, glabrous or sparsely pubescent as stem. |
Flowers | sepals oblong, 2–3.5 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2–4-rayed); petals white, broadly obovate, 4–5.5 × 1.5–3 mm; anthers ovate, 0.3–0.5 mm. |
sepals broadly ovate, 1.7–2.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, (trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2- or 3-rayed); petals yellow, spatulate, 2.7–4 × 1.5–2.2 mm; anthers ovate, 0.4–0.5 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | divaricate-ascending to suberect, straight, (1–)3–10(–16) mm, glabrous or pubescent as stem. |
divaricate-ascending, straight or curved upward, (sometimes slightly expanded basally), 3–8 mm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent, trichomes simple and 2- or 3-rayed. |
Fruits | oblong to ovate or ovoid to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, usually plane, rarely slightly twisted, flattened or inflated, (3–)5–12(–16) × 2–3.5 mm; valves glabrous or pubescent, trichomes simple or 2–4-rayed, 0.05–0.2(–0.4) mm; ovules (20–)24–36 per ovary; style 0.05–0.2(–0.5) mm. |
broadly lanceolate to ellipsoid or ovoid, plane, inflated at least basally, (2.5–)3.5–7(–8) × (1.5–)2–3.5 mm; valves glabrous or sparsely pubescent, trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2(–4)-rayed, 0.07–0.2 mm; ovules 4–10(–12) per ovary; style 0.3–1(–1.3) mm. |
Seeds | oblong, 0.9–1.1 × 0.5–0.7 mm. |
oblong, 1–1.5 × 0.8–1 mm. |
2n | = 64, 80. |
= 20. |
Draba glabella |
Draba sphaeroides |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Rock outcrops, talus, rocky ridges and knolls, meadows, tundra, gravelly beaches sandy river margins, disturbed soils | Rock outcrops, talus, soil pockets on rocky slopes |
Elevation | 0-1400 m (0-4600 ft) | 2500-3300 m (8200-10800 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; ME; VT; WI; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; n Europe (n Russia); e Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia) |
NV |
Discussion | Draba glabella was reported by J. V. Freudenstein and J. K. Marr (1986) from Michigan, but that record likely was based on plants of D. arabisans, a highly variable species that occurs in that state. Draba glabella is extremely variable in indumentum, number of cauline leaves, fruiting pedicel length, fruit shape and size, style length, and seed number. M. L. Fernald (1934) divided it into five species and three varieties; R. C. Rollins (1993) recognized three species. Of these, G. A. Mulligan (1970, 1976) reduced D. laurentiana to synonymy of D. glabella and treated D. pycnosperma as a variety. Of all the segregates of D. glabella, var. pycnosperma might merit recognition. It is restricted to northwestern Newfoundland and northeastern Quebec, where var. glabella also grows. The main difference between the two varieties is the presence in var. pycnosperma of plump (versus flattened), ovoid to oblong fruits. Draba sornborgeri, recognized by Rollins as a distinct species, is merely a glabrescent form of D. glabella. Because of the tremendous morphological variability, wide distribution, extensive synonymy, and different chromosome numbers, D. glabella will require extensive molecular, cytological, and morphological studies to properly delimit the species and any potential infraspecific taxa. Some forms of Draba glabella approach both D. borealis and D. praealta, but these can be distinguished by examining the trichomes on the abaxial surfaces of basal leaf blades. In D. glabella, these trichomes are minutely stalked or subsessile and have branched rays. In the other two species, the trichomes have long stalks and the rays are always unbranched. The Linnaean name Draba hirta was applied to this species previously, and still is in Russia. The name is not typified, and the material at LINN is in bad condition and probably belongs to two species, D. glabella and D. norvegica, as recognized here. A typification of D. hirta may necessitate its re-introduction for this species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. Draba sphaeroides is closely related to D. pedicellata; the two are easily distinguished using the characteristics discussed by M. D. Windham (2004). The species is known from Elko County (East Humboldt, Ruby and Jarbidge mountains) in northeastern Nevada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 307. | FNA vol. 7, p. 339. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba | Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. arabisans var. canadensis, D. arabisans var. orthocarpa, D. canadensis, D. canadensis var. pycnosperma, D. daurica, D. glabella var. megasperma, D. glabella var. orthocarpa, D. glabella var. pycnosperma, D. henneana, D. hirta var. laurentiana, D. hirta var. pycnosperma, D. laurentiana, D. megasperma, D. norvegica var. pleiophylla, D. pycnosperma, D. sornborgeri | D. oligosperma var. sphaeroides |
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 434. (1813) | Payson: Amer. J. Bot. 4: 265. (1917) |
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