Flora of North America species comparison

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Draba praealta

Draba, tall Draba, tall whitlow-grass, tall whitlow-grass Draba
Habit Annuals or perennials; (short-lived); caudex simple or branched; not scapose.
Stems

branched or unbranched, (0.5–)0.8–3.2(–3.8) dm, pubescent throughout, trichomes 3–5-rayed, 0.1–0.4 mm, with simple and 2-rayed ones, 0.4–1 mm.
Basal leaves

rosulate;

subsessile;

petiole base ciliate, (trichomes simple and 2-rayed, 0.2–0.8 mm);

blade oblanceolate, (0.7–)1–3.5(–4.5) cm × 1.5–7(–9) mm, margins usually dentate, rarely entire, surfaces pubescent, abaxially with stalked, 3–6-rayed trichomes, 0.1–0.5 mm, adaxially with stalked, 3–5-rayed, 0.1–0.6 mm, and simple ones, to 0.8 mm.
Cauline leaves

(1 or) 2–5(–9);

sessile;

blade ovate to lanceolate, margins dentate or entire, surfaces pubescent as basal.
Racemes

(5–)8–30(–37)-flowered, ebracteate, elongated in fruit;

rachis not flexuous, pubescent as stem.
Flowers

(late-season ones petaliferous);

sepals ovate, 1.7–2.5 mm, pubescent, (trichomes simple and stalked, 2-rayed);

petals white, oblanceolate to spatulate, 2.8–3.5(–4) × 0.8–1.2 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm.
Fruiting pedicels

divaricate-ascending to ascending or suberect (not appressed to rachis), straight, (3–)4–10(–12) mm, pubescent, trichomes 3–5-rayed (0.1–0.4 mm), and sometimes simple.
Fruits

(erect, not appressed to rachis) lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, plane, flattened, (5–)7–12(–15) × 1.5–2.5(–3) mm;

valves puberulent, trichomes simple and short-stalked, 2–4-rayed, 0.05–0.25 mm;

ovules (24–)30–52 per ovary;

style 0.03–0.1(0.15) mm.
Seeds

oblong, 0.8–1.1 × 0.5–0.6 mm, (often apiculate).
2n

= 56.

Draba praealta
Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Rocky pine slopes, subalpine areas, alpine meadows, grassy volcanic ridges, woodlands, damp rocky areas, limestone talus, shale cliffs, steep hillsides
Elevation 1200-2900 m (3900-9500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; YT; e Asia (Russian Far East [Chukchi Peninsula])
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Morphological and chromosomal evidence (M. D. Windham, unpubl.) suggests that Draba praealta may be an allopolyploid originating through hybridization between D. albertina and D. cana. Both R. C. Rollins (1993) and N. H. Holmgren (2005b) placed D. lonchocarpa var. dasycarpa in the synonymy of D. lonchocarpa. G. A. Mulligan (1974) indicated that the type of var. dasycarpa does not belong to that species and he correctly annotated its isotype (Macoun 64454, CAN) as D. praealta. Mulligan (1976) and Rollins indicated that D. praealta occurs in Alaska, but we have not seen unequivocal material from the state.

We have not seen the material on which A. E. Katenin and V. V. Petrovsky (1995) based their record from the Russian Far East.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 331.
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. nivalis, 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. 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. cascadensis, D. columbiana, D. dolichopoda, D. lapilutea, D. lonchocarpa var. dasycarpa, D. praealta var. yellowstonensis, D. yellowstonensis
Name authority Greene: Pittonia 3: 306. (1898)
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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