Physaria alpestris |
Physaria arizonica |
|
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alpine twin-pod, Washington bladder-pod, Washington twin-pod |
Arizona bladderpod |
|
Habit | Perennials; caudex usually simple, rarely branched, (cespitose); (silvery) pubescent throughout, trichomes several-rayed, rays (1- or) 2-bifurcate, (low-umbonate, tubercles relatively few, small). | Perennials; caudex branched, (cespitose); densely (silvery gray) pubescent, trichomes (sessile or subsessile), (4-), 6-, or 8-rayed, rays fused at base, furcate or bifurcate, (slightly umbonate, tuberculate throughout). |
Stems | several from base, decumbent to ascending, (unbranched), 0.5–1.5 dm. |
simple or few to several from base, erect, (unbranched, slender), 0.2–1(–1.5) dm. |
Basal leaves | (petiole slender); blade obovate, 3–5 cm (width 10–20 mm, base tapering abruptly to petiole), margins entire, (apex rarely slightly acute). |
(densely tufted, not rosulate, reflexed in age); blade obovate to oblanceolate, 0.7–2(–3) cm, margins usually entire, sometimes repand or shallowly dentate, (apex acute). |
Cauline leaves | blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm (width 3–5 mm), margins entire. |
similar to basal, becoming narrower distally, somewhat reflexed, (distal) blade linear or narrowly oblanceolate, 0.5–2.5(–5.5) cm. |
Racemes | subcorymbose. |
dense, often subcorymbiform. |
Flowers | sepals oblong, 8–10 mm; petals spatulate, 12–14 mm. |
sepals (green or greenish yellow), ovate or broadly ovate, 3.5–6.5 mm, (lateral pair subsaccate, cucullate, median pair thickened, slightly cucullate apically); petals (spreading), oblanceolate to obovate, 5.5–8(–10) mm, (claw erect). |
Fruiting pedicels | (divaricate, straight), 5–10 mm. |
(erect or divaricate-spreading, straight or slightly curved), (3–)5–10(–15) mm. |
Fruits | didymous, mostly highly inflated (strongly flattened at least in 1/2 toward replum), 14–18 × 14–18 mm, (papery, basal sinus slightly notched, apical open, shallow); valves (retaining seeds after dehiscence), evenly pubescent; replum lanceolate, 7–10 mm, width 1.5–2.5 mm, as wide as or wider than fruit, apex acute to acuminate; ovules 8–10 per ovary; style 5–7 mm. |
(sessile or substipitate), suborbicular to ovoid or ellipsoid, slightly inflated, 4–7 mm; valves pubescent outside, trichomes substipitate, spreading, sometimes sparsely pubescent inside, trichomes sessile, smooth; ovules 4–10(–16) per ovary; style (0.5–)1–2(–4) mm (shorter than fruit). |
Seeds | flattened, (2–3 mm). |
flattened. |
2n | = 48–52, 52, 64, 67–70. |
= 10. |
Physaria alpestris |
Physaria arizonica |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Alpine scree, rocky ridges, talus slopes, volcanic sands and gravel, serpentine gravel, granitic slopes, mountain shrub, subalpine fir, and whitebark pine communities | Sandy and gravelly soils, limey knolls or limestone chip, often in open stands of sagebrush-pinyon, pinyon-juniper, Gambel oak and sometimes ponderosa pine |
Elevation | (700-)1300-2400 m ((2300-)4300-7900 ft) | 1000-2200 m (3300-7200 ft) |
Distribution |
WA
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AZ; UT
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Discussion | The circumscription of Physaria arizonica here is quite broad and includes plants that have densely tufted basal leaves and relatively few or no cauline leaves; plants that are loosely tufted and have several cauline leaves; and plants that have a strongly branched caudex, leafy stems, and sterile shoots (var. andrusensis). Additional study is needed to understand the pattern of variation in this complex species; all of the characters given above vary considerably. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 624. | FNA vol. 7, p. 627. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Lesquerella alpestris | Lesquerella arizonica, Lesquerella arizonica var. nudicaulis, P. arizonica var. andrusensis |
Name authority | Suksdorf: W. Amer. Sci. 15: 58. (1906) | (S. Watson) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 321. (2002) |
Web links |