FNA: Parrya nudicaulis

	Parrya nudicaulis
	nakedstem wallflower
Habit	Plants often not cespitose, caudex branched; glandular throughout or eglandular.
Stems	(0.4–)0.7–2.7(–3.5) dm.
Leaves	petiole (0.7–)1.5–7(–10) cm, to 5 mm wide at base (glandular or not); blade narrowly spatulate or oblanceolate to lanceolate or oblong, (1–)1.7–7 cm × (6–)10–23(–28) mm, base cuneate or attenuate, margins entire or minutely to coarsely dentate, or sometimes incised, apex acute.
Racemes	3–20-flowered.
Flowers	sepals oblong, 5–8 × 1.5–3 mm (glandular or not); petals lavender to white, purple, (14–)16–20(–22) × 7–10(–12) mm, claw 6–10 mm, apex emarginate; median filaments 6–10 mm; anthers 1.5–2.5 mm.
Fruiting pedicels	(proximalmost) (10–)15–40(–60) mm (glandular or not).
Fruits	narrowly oblong to linear-lanceolate, (2–)3–4(–4.7) cm × (3.5–)5–7 mm; valves glandular or eglandular; ovules 12–16 per ovary; style (0.5–)1–2.5(–3.5) mm.
Seeds	3.5–6 × 3–5 mm; wing 0.7–1.5 mm wide.
2n	= 14, 28.

	Parrya nudicaulis
Phenology	Flowering early Jun-early Aug.
Habitat	Tundra, alpine stream valleys, flats and flood banks, limestone or schist mountain slopes and tops, grassy summits, disturbed gravel, moist open areas, meadows, sandy shores, mossy carpets, hillsides, alpine stony slopes, stable sand ridges, turfy snow flushes
Elevation	0-1800 m (0-5900 ft)
Distribution	AK; BC; NT; YT; e Asia (Russian Far East) [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Parrya nudicaulis is the most variable species in the genus, especially in leaf shape, size, and margin, as well as in the presence versus absence of the extrafloral glands. Much of the confusion about its limits resulted from different emphases on various characters. For example, E. Hultén (1971), who recognized six subspecies, expanded the range of P. nudicaulis to extend from the Canadian arctic and Alaska into the Russian Far East, Siberia, Central Asia, China, and the Himalayas. Three of his four North American subspecies, sometimes growing together, are rather poorly defined morphologically and appear to have been based primarily on the degree of development of leaf teeth. By contrast, R. C. Rollins (1993) recognized a single polymorphic species that included the Utah-Wyoming endemic P. rydbergii. Within a given population of P. nudicaulis, one finds both glandular and eglandular plants with leaf margins entire or variously dentate. In my opinion, these variables alone are unreliable, and flower size, in combination with other characters, can give a better indication of taxon identity. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source	FNA vol. 7, p. 512.
Parent taxa	Brassicaceae > tribe Chorisporeae > Parrya
Sibling taxa	P. arctica, P. nauruaq, P. rydbergii
Synonyms	Cardamine nudicaulis, Achoriphragma nudicaule, Arabis nudicaulis, Cardamine articulata, Matthiola nudicaulis, Neuroloma nudicaule, P. macrocarpa, P. nudicaulis var. grandiflora, P. nudicaulis subsp. interior, P. nudicaulis var. interior, P. nudicaulis subsp. septentrionalis
Name authority	(Linnaeus) Regel: Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 34: 176. (1861)
Web links	Local Web sites: PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Parrya nudicaulis

nakedstem wallflower

Habit

Plants often not cespitose, caudex branched; glandular throughout or eglandular.

Stems

(0.4–)0.7–2.7(–3.5) dm.

Leaves

petiole (0.7–)1.5–7(–10) cm, to 5 mm wide at base (glandular or not);

blade narrowly spatulate or oblanceolate to lanceolate or oblong, (1–)1.7–7 cm × (6–)10–23(–28) mm, base cuneate or attenuate, margins entire or minutely to coarsely dentate, or sometimes incised, apex acute.

Racemes

3–20-flowered.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 5–8 × 1.5–3 mm (glandular or not);

petals lavender to white, purple, (14–)16–20(–22) × 7–10(–12) mm, claw 6–10 mm, apex emarginate;

median filaments 6–10 mm;

anthers 1.5–2.5 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

(proximalmost) (10–)15–40(–60) mm (glandular or not).

Fruits

narrowly oblong to linear-lanceolate, (2–)3–4(–4.7) cm × (3.5–)5–7 mm;

valves glandular or eglandular;

ovules 12–16 per ovary;

style (0.5–)1–2.5(–3.5) mm.

Seeds

3.5–6 × 3–5 mm;

wing 0.7–1.5 mm wide.

= 14, 28.

Parrya nudicaulis

Phenology

Flowering early Jun-early Aug.

Habitat

Tundra, alpine stream valleys, flats and flood banks, limestone or schist mountain slopes and tops, grassy summits, disturbed gravel, moist open areas, meadows, sandy shores, mossy carpets, hillsides, alpine stony slopes, stable sand ridges, turfy snow flushes

Elevation

0-1800 m (0-5900 ft)

Distribution

AK; BC; NT; YT; e Asia (Russian Far East)

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Parrya nudicaulis is the most variable species in the genus, especially in leaf shape, size, and margin, as well as in the presence versus absence of the extrafloral glands. Much of the confusion about its limits resulted from different emphases on various characters. For example, E. Hultén (1971), who recognized six subspecies, expanded the range of P. nudicaulis to extend from the Canadian arctic and Alaska into the Russian Far East, Siberia, Central Asia, China, and the Himalayas. Three of his four North American subspecies, sometimes growing together, are rather poorly defined morphologically and appear to have been based primarily on the degree of development of leaf teeth. By contrast, R. C. Rollins (1993) recognized a single polymorphic species that included the Utah-Wyoming endemic P. rydbergii. Within a given population of P. nudicaulis, one finds both glandular and eglandular plants with leaf margins entire or variously dentate. In my opinion, these variables alone are unreliable, and flower size, in combination with other characters, can give a better indication of taxon identity.

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

Source

FNA vol. 7, p. 512.

Parent taxa

Brassicaceae > tribe Chorisporeae > Parrya

Sibling taxa

P. arctica, P. nauruaq, P. rydbergii

Synonyms

Cardamine nudicaulis, Achoriphragma nudicaule, Arabis nudicaulis, Cardamine articulata, Matthiola nudicaulis, Neuroloma nudicaule, P. macrocarpa, P. nudicaulis var. grandiflora, P. nudicaulis subsp. interior, P. nudicaulis var. interior, P. nudicaulis subsp. septentrionalis

Name authority

(Linnaeus) Regel: Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 34: 176. (1861)

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).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

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Parrya nudicaulis

Parrya nudicaulis