Flora of North America species comparison

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Draba nivalis

snow Draba, snow whitlow-grass, yellow arctic Draba
Habit Perennials; (cespitose, usually forming mats); caudex branched (covered with persistent leaf bases); usually scapose.
Stems

unbranched, 0.2–0.8(–1.2) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes minutely stalked, 8–15-rayed, stellate, (non-crisped), 0.03–0.15 mm.
Basal leaves

rosulate;

petiole (obsolete), ciliate throughout;

blade oblanceolate to obovate, 0.2–0.9(–1.5) cm × 1–3(–5) mm, margins entire, (not ciliate), surfaces usually pubescent, rarely glabrescent, with short-stalked, 8–15-rayed, stellate, (non-crisped) trichomes, 0.05–0.15 mm.
Cauline leaves

0 or 1;

sessile;

blade ovate or oblong, margins entire, surfaces pubescent as basal.
Racemes

3–9(–11)-flowered, ebracteate, elongated in fruit;

rachis often slightly flexuous, pubescent as stem.
Flowers

sepals ovate, 1.5–2 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2–5-rayed);

petals white, spatulate to oblanceolate, 2–3.5 × 0.8–1.4 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm.
Fruiting pedicels

usually ascending, rarely divaricate, straight, 1–4.5(–8) mm, pubescent as stem.
Fruits

elliptic to narrowly oblong-elliptic, twisted or not, flattened, 3.5–9 × 1.5–2.2 mm;

valves usually glabrous, rarely with 3–6-rayed trichomes on replum;

ovules 12–24(–28) per ovary;

style 0.1–0.4 mm.
Seeds

ovoid, 0.6–1 × 0.5–0.6 mm.
2n

= 16.

Draba nivalis
Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Rock outcrops and fellfields, meadows, open tundra, stream banks, gravelly beaches, roadsides
Elevation 0-2500 m (0-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AB; BC; MB; NF; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; Europe (Finland, Norway [including Svalbard], n, w Sweden); e Asia (Russian Far East, n Siberia); Atlantic Islands (Iceland); circumpolar
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Draba nivalis is most often confused with D. lonchocarpa, and C. L. Hitchcock (1941) reduced the latter to a variety (var. elongata) of D. nivalis. A critical comparison reveals that there are enough differences to warrant their recognition as distinct species. Draba nivalis is distinguished by having non-ciliate leaf bases, basal leaf blades pubescent with trichomes 0.05–0.15 mm, stems and pedicels that are always pubescent, and fruits that are elliptic to narrowly elliptic-oblong, plane, and 3.5–9 mm. By contrast, D. lonchocarpa has ciliate leaf bases, basal leaf blades pubescent with trichomes 0.15–0.5 mm, stems and pedicels that are glabrous or sparsely pubescent, and fruits that are linear to lanceolate or oblong, slightly twisted or plane, and 6–15(–18) mm. Except for Alaska, D. nivalis does not grow in the continental United States, whereas D. lonchocarpa grows in nearly all Mountain and Pacific states.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 322.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Arabideae > Draba
Sibling taxa
D. abajoensis, D. albertina, D. aleutica, D. alpina, D. aprica, D. arabisans, D. arctica, D. arctogena, D. argyrea, D. arida, D. asprella, D. asterophora, D. aurea, D. aureola, D. bifurcata, D. borealis, D. brachycarpa, D. brachystylis, D. breweri, D. burkei, D. californica, D. cana, D. carnosula, D. chamissonis, D. cinerea, D. corrugata, D. corymbosa, D. crassa, D. crassifolia, D. cruciata, D. cuneifolia, D. cusickii, D. cyclomorpha, D. daviesiae, D. densifolia, D. exunguiculata, D. fladnizensis, D. glabella, D. globosa, D. graminea, D. grandis, D. grayana, D. heilii, D. helleriana, D. hitchcockii, D. howellii, D. incana, D. incerta, D. incrassata, D. inexpectata, D. jaegeri, D. juvenilis, D. kassii, D. kluanei, D. lactea, D. lemmonii, D. lonchocarpa, D. longisquamosa, D. macounii, D. maguirei, D. malpighiacea, D. micropetala, D. mogollonica, D. monoensis, D. mulliganii, D. murrayi, D. nemorosa, D. norvegica, D. novolympica, D. oblongata, D. ogilviensis, D. oligosperma, D. oreibata, D. oxycarpa, D. palanderiana, D. pauciflora, D. paucifructa, D. paysonii, D. pectinipila, D. pedicellata, D. pennellii, D. petrophila, D. pilosa, D. platycarpa, D. porsildii, D. praealta, D. pterosperma, D. ramosissima, D. ramulosa, D. rectifructa, D. reptans, D. ruaxes, D. santaquinensis, D. saxosa, D. scotteri, D. serpentina, D. sharsmithii, D. sibirica, D. sierrae, D. simmonsii, D. smithii, D. sobolifera, D. spectabilis, D. sphaerocarpa, D. sphaeroides, D. standleyi, D. stenoloba, D. stenopetala, D. streptobrachia, D. streptocarpa, D. subalpina, D. subcapitata, D. subumbellata, D. trichocarpa, D. ventosa, D. verna, D. viridis, D. weberi, D. yukonensis, D. zionensis
Synonyms D. caesia
Name authority Liljeblad: Utkast Sv. Fl., 236. (1792)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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