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alpine pennycress, Fendler's pennycress, penny-cress, wild candytuft

Habit Perennials; (cespitose or not).
Stems

simple or several from caudex, erect or ascending, unbranched or branched distally, (0.1–)0.4–3.2(–4.5) dm.

Basal leaves

petiole 0.4–7.3 cm;

blade linear, oblong, oblanceolate, ovate, obovate, or spatulate, 0.4–3 cm × 2–20 mm, base cuneate to attenuate, margins entire, denticulate, or dentate, apex obtuse to acute.

Cauline leaves

2–21;

blade ovate or suboblong, 0.4–2.8 × 0.1–1.7 mm, base auriculate to subamplexicaul, margins entire or dentate, apex obtuse to subacute.

Racemes

0.5–25 cm, (congested or considerably elongated).

Flowers

sepals 1.6–5.3 × 0.5–1.5 mm, (margins membranous);

petals white to pinkish purple, (3.4–)4.2–13 × 1–4.9 mm, often flaring between blade and claw, apex obtuse;

filaments 2–7.5 mm;

anthers 0.5–1 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

horizontal to ascending, straight, 2.5–15 mm.

Fruits

obovate, obcordate, obdeltate, or elliptic, 2.5–16 × 1.5–9 mm, usually winged, rarely not winged apically, base cuneate, apex obtuse, truncate, or emarginate;

ovules 4–10 per ovary;

style (0.4–)1.1–4.2 mm.

Seeds

brown, 1.1–2.1 mm, minutely reticulate.

Noccaea fendleri

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; TX; UT; WA; WY; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora).

Some North American authors (e.g., P. K. Holmgren 1971; R. C. Rollins 1993) treated Noccaea fendleri as conspecific with the European Thlaspi montanum, whereas others (e.g., E. B. Payson 1926) recognized the North American taxa as endemic to the continent. Molecular studies (M. Koch and I. A. Al-Shehbaz 2004) supported Payson’s view of the independent status of the North American representatives. Although Payson and Rollins recognized more than one species here (e.g., T. californicum, T. idahoense, T. glaucum, T. fendleri), I agree with Holmgren in treating them as infraspecific taxa, but at the subspecific instead of varietal rank. The distinctions among them are not very sharp, and hybridization appears to have played some role in blurring their boundaries, as evidenced from Holmgren’s report of morphologically intermediate forms between subsp. glauca (as T. montanum var. montanum) and each of subspp. fendleri, idahoensis, and siskiyouensis.

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

Key
1. Fruits elliptic, 2.2-3.2 times as long as wide, apices acute; fruiting pedicels strongly ascending to divaricate-ascending, forming 15-70º angle with rachises.
subsp. californica
1. Fruits obovate, obcordate, obdeltate, or, rarely, elliptic, 1-2 times as long as wide, apices obtuse, truncate, or emarginate; fruiting pedicels subhorizontal, horizontal, or descending, forming 70-130º angle with rachises
→ 2
2. Basal leaf blades linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 1.1-4(-5) mm wide, bases attenuate; central Idaho.
subsp. idahoensis
2. Basal leaf blades oblong, ovate, or spatulate, (3.5-)4-20 mm wide, bases cuneate; widespread in Pacific and Mountain states
→ 3
3. Seeds 2-4 per fruit; petioles of basal leaves (1.7-)2-3.6(-4) times longer than blades; cauline leaves 2-6; Curry, Douglas, and Josephine counties, Oregon.
subsp. siskiyouensis
3. Seeds 4-6 per fruit; petioles of basal leaves 0.6-2.2(-3.3) times longer than blades; cauline leaves 4-16(-21); Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
→ 4
4. Petals pinkish purple or, occasionally, white, (6-)6.5-11(-13) mm; styles (1.8-) 2.5-3.5(-4.2) mm; fruits 7-12(-16) mm; racemes often compact.
subsp. fendleri
4. Petals white or, occasionally, pinkish purple, (3.4-)4-7(-8.5) mm; styles (0.4-) 1-2.2(-3) mm; fruits (2.5-)5-8(-12) mm; racemes often lax.
subsp. glauca
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 601.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Noccaeeae > Noccaea
Sibling taxa
N. arctica, N. parviflora
Subordinate taxa
N. fendleri subsp. californica, N. fendleri subsp. fendleri, N. fendleri subsp. glauca, N. fendleri subsp. idahoensis, N. fendleri subsp. siskiyouensis
Synonyms Thlaspi fendleri, Thlaspi montanum var. fendleri
Name authority (A. Gray) Holub: Preslia 70: 108. (1998)
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