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Menzies' wallflower

prairie rocket, shy wallflower, small wallflower, small-flower rocket, small-flower rocket rocket, smallflower wallflower

Habit Biennials or perennials; (short-lived). Biennials or perennials; (short-lived, caudex thickened, usually simple, rarely branched).
Stems

erect, unbranched or branched distally, 0.2–2.5(–3.5) dm.

erect, unbranched or branched distally, 1.5–7 dm.

Basal leaves

blade (fleshy or not), spatulate, 2–10 cm × 5–15 mm, base cuneate, margins dentate, entire, or lobed, apex obtuse.

blade linear to linear-oblanceolate, 1.5–6(–8) cm × 2–8 mm, base attenuate, margins entire or dentate, apex acute.

Cauline leaves

(distal) sessile or short-petiolate;

blade margins entire or dentate.

(distal) sessile;

blade margins entire or denticulate.

Racemes

elongated slightly in fruit.

elongated or not in fruit.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 7–14 mm, lateral pair saccate basally;

petals yellow, usually suborbicular, rarely obovate, 15–30 × 6–14 mm, claw 10–15 mm, apex rounded;

median filaments 10–13 mm;

anthers linear, 3–4 mm.

sepals oblong to linear-oblong, 4–6 mm, lateral pair slightly saccate basally;

petals yellow, oblanceolate, 6–9(–11) × 1–2 mm, claw 5–7 mm, apex rounded;

median filaments 5–7 mm;

anthers narrowly oblong to linear, 1–2 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

horizontal to divaricate, slender, narrower than fruit, 4–15 mm.

divaricate-ascending to ascending, stout, slightly narrower than fruit, 4–9(–15) mm.

Fruits

widely spreading or divaricate, linear, straight, not torulose, 3–14 cm × 2–4 mm, terete when green, becoming latiseptate when dry, not striped;

valves with obscure midvein, pubescent outside, trichomes (2 or) 3 or 4 (or 6)-rayed, glabrous inside;

ovules 32–74 per ovary;

style cylindrical, slender, 0.3–2 mm, sparsely pubescent;

stigma 2-lobed, lobes as long as wide.

ascending to divaricate-ascending, (not appressed to rachis), narrowly linear, straight, not torulose, 3–5.8(–7) cm × 1–1.5(–1.8) mm, slightly 4-angled or terete, not striped;

valves with somewhat prominent midvein, pubescent outside, trichomes 2–4-rayed, glabrous inside;

ovules 36–66 per ovary;

style cylindrical, stout, 0.7–3 mm, moderately to sparsely pubescent;

stigma strongly 2-lobed, lobes as long as wide.

Seeds

oblong (compressed), 1.8–2.8(–3.5) × 1–2 mm; winged distally (wing narrow all around).

ovoid, 1.2–1.7 × 0.8–1 mm;

not winged or wing apiculate.

Trichomes

of leaves 2–5(–7)-rayed on adaxial leaf surface.

of leaves 2- or 3-rayed.

2n

= 36.

= 81.

Erysimum menziesii

Erysimum inconspicuum

Phenology Flowering Jan–Aug. Flowering Apr–Aug.
Habitat Stabilized coastal sand dunes Calcareous talus and cliffs, roadsides, railroad embankments, abandoned fields, hillsides, alkaline ground, bluffs, crevices and ledges, gravel, prairies, rocky pastures, among brush, waste sites
Elevation 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) 100-2700 m (300-8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AR; CO; ID; IL; IN; KS; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NH; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; SD; UT; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NS; ON; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Erysimum menziesii is restricted to the coasts of Humboldt, Mendocino, and Monterey counties. R. A. Price (1993) divided the species into four subspecies, three of which were invalidly published.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Erysimum inconspicuum is known in Yukon from Raup & Correll 11255 (A), which was collected 7 miles east of Little Atlin Lake, and Malte s.n. (GH), which was collected from Dawson on 10 August 1916. Most of the other collections from Yukon identified as E. inconspicuum belong to E. coarctatum. The record from Quebec is based on Cayouette J80-8 (GH), from Cté de Charlevoix, and Victorin, Germain, & Meilleur 43128 (GH), from Du Lac-Saint-Jean.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 542. FNA vol. 7, p. 541.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Erysimeae > Erysimum Brassicaceae > tribe Erysimeae > Erysimum
Sibling taxa
E. ammophilum, E. arenicola, E. asperum, E. capitatum, E. cheiranthoides, E. cheiri, E. coarctatum, E. concinnum, E. franciscanum, E. hieraciifolium, E. inconspicuum, E. insulare, E. occidentale, E. pallasii, E. perenne, E. repandum, E. suffrutescens, E. teretifolium
E. ammophilum, E. arenicola, E. asperum, E. capitatum, E. cheiranthoides, E. cheiri, E. coarctatum, E. concinnum, E. franciscanum, E. hieraciifolium, E. insulare, E. menziesii, E. occidentale, E. pallasii, E. perenne, E. repandum, E. suffrutescens, E. teretifolium
Synonyms Hesperis menziesii, Cheiranthus grandiflorus E. asperum var. inconspicuum, Cheiranthus inconspicuus, Cheiranthus syrticola, Cheirinia inconspicua, Cheirinia parviflora, Cheirinia syrticola, E. asperum var. parviflorum, E. inconspicuum var. syrticola, E. syrticola
Name authority (Hooker) Wettstein: Oesterr. Bot. Z. 39: 283. (1889) (S. Watson) MacMillan: Metasp. Minnesota Valley, 268. (1892)
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