Physaria alpestris |
Physaria congesta |
|
---|---|---|
alpine twin-pod, Washington bladder-pod, Washington twin-pod |
Dudley bluffs 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; (relatively diminutive, strongly condensed); caudex (buried), simple or branched, (stout, thatched, thickened with persistent leaf bases); densely pubescent, trichomes (appressed, stiff), 4- or 5-rayed, rays fused at center, (mostly bifurcate). |
Stems | several from base, decumbent to ascending, (unbranched), 0.5–1.5 dm. |
simple or few from base, decumbent to ascending, (arising laterally from a tight hemispherical tuft of leaves), to 0.15 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). |
similar to cauline, (erect, surfaces silvery). |
Cauline leaves | blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm (width 3–5 mm), margins entire. |
(ascending, subsessile); blade linear-oblanceolate, (0.6–)0.8–1.3(–1.5) cm, margins entire, (apex acute to narrowly obtuse). |
Racemes | subcorymbose. |
strongly congested, (often sessile or nearly so, lateral to leaves). |
Flowers | sepals oblong, 8–10 mm; petals spatulate, 12–14 mm. |
sepals (loosely erect), narrowly oblong, 3–4 mm; petals spatulate, 5–6 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | (divaricate, straight), 5–10 mm. |
(erect or ascending, straight to slightly curved), 3–6 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. |
ovate, compressed (latiseptate) on margins and apically, 4–5 mm; valves pubescent, trichomes densely appressed; ovules 4 per ovary; style 1–1.5 mm. |
Seeds | flattened, (2–3 mm). |
plump. |
2n | = 48–52, 52, 64, 67–70. |
|
Physaria alpestris |
Physaria congesta |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering Apr–May. |
Habitat | Alpine scree, rocky ridges, talus slopes, volcanic sands and gravel, serpentine gravel, granitic slopes, mountain shrub, subalpine fir, and whitebark pine communities | Barren knolls with pinyon-juniper |
Elevation | (700-)1300-2400 m ((2300-)4300-7900 ft) | 1800-2100 m (5900-6900 ft) |
Distribution |
WA
|
CO |
Discussion | Of conservation concern. Physaria congesta is found on white, decomposed shale of the Thirteenmile Creek Tongue of the Green River Formation. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 624. | FNA vol. 7, p. 632. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Lesquerella alpestris | Lesquerella congesta |
Name authority | Suksdorf: W. Amer. Sci. 15: 58. (1906) | (Rollins) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 322. (2002) |
Web links |