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Physaria alpestris

alpine twin-pod, Washington bladder-pod, Washington twin-pod

denseflower bladderpod, low 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). Annuals or biennials; caudex simple or branched, (relatively small, cespitose); densely pubescent, trichomes (spreading, sessile or short-stalked), 5–7-rayed, rays distinct and simple, (tuberculate, finely tubercled with a U-shaped notch on one side).
Stems

several from base, decumbent to ascending, (unbranched), 0.5–1.5 dm.

simple or few to several from base, erect or decumbent, (rarely branched, usually leafy), to 4 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).

blade lyrate-pinnatifid, 1–7 cm, margins entire or shallowly dentate.

Cauline leaves

blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm (width 3–5 mm), margins entire.

(sessile or shortly petiolate);

blade narrowly obovate to elliptic, 0.5–6 cm, margins entire, repand, or shallowly dentate.

Racemes

subcorymbose.

dense, (elongated in fruit, often subtended by distal cauline leaves).

Flowers

sepals oblong, 8–10 mm;

petals spatulate, 12–14 mm.

sepals elliptic, 3.7–7.2 mm, (lateral pair somewhat cucullate, median pair thickened apically);

petals (yellow to orange-yellow), obovate to obdeltate, (4.5–)7–10(–11) mm, (tapering to short claw, apex often emarginate).

Fruiting pedicels

(divaricate, straight), 5–10 mm.

(usually divaricate-spreading, straight or slightly curved, delicate, sometimes drooping, especially on herbarium specimens), 7–10 mm, (somewhat rigid).

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), globose or broadly obovate, not inflated, 4–6 mm, (smooth);

valves (not retaining seeds after dehiscence), glabrous;

replum as wide as or wider than fruit;

ovules 8–16 per ovary;

style 2–5 mm.

Seeds

flattened, (2–3 mm).

flattened.

2n

= 48–52, 52, 64, 67–70.

= 14.

Physaria alpestris

Physaria densiflora

Phenology Flowering May–Jun. Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Alpine scree, rocky ridges, talus slopes, volcanic sands and gravel, serpentine gravel, granitic slopes, mountain shrub, subalpine fir, and whitebark pine communities Sandy, granitic, or calcareous soils, sandy ledges, limestone outcrops, rocky prairies, uplands
Elevation (700-)1300-2400 m ((2300-)4300-7900 ft) 30-400 m (100-1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Alyssum densiflorum (A. Gray) Kuntze (1891), not Desfontaines (1808) is an illegitimate name, sometimes found in synonymy with Physaria densiflora.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 624. FNA vol. 7, p. 633.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria
Sibling taxa
P. acutifolia, P. alpina, P. angustifolia, P. arctica, P. arenosa, P. argyraea, P. arizonica, P. aurea, P. bellii, P. brassicoides, P. calcicola, P. calderi, P. carinata, P. chambersii, P. cinerea, P. condensata, P. congesta, P. cordiformis, P. curvipes, P. densiflora, P. didymocarpa, P. dornii, P. douglasii, P. eburniflora, P. engelmannii, P. eriocarpa, P. fendleri, P. filiformis, P. floribunda, P. fremontii, P. garrettii, P. geyeri, P. globosa, P. gooddingii, P. gordonii, P. gracilis, P. grahamii, P. hemiphysaria, P. hitchcockii, P. humilis, P. integrifolia, P. intermedia, P. kingii, P. klausii, P. lata, P. lepidota, P. lesicii, P. lindheimeri, P. ludoviciana, P. macrocarpa, P. mcvaughiana, P. montana, P. multiceps, P. navajoensis, P. nelsonii, P. newberryi, P. obcordata, P. obdeltata, P. occidentalis, P. oregona, P. ovalifolia, P. pachyphylla, P. pallida, P. parviflora, P. parvula, P. pendula, P. pinetorum, P. prostrata, P. pruinosa, P. pulvinata, P. purpurea, P. pycnantha, P. rectipes, P. recurvata, P. reediana, P. rollinsii, P. saximontana, P. scrotiformis, P. sessilis, P. spatulata, P. subumbellata, P. tenella, P. thamnophila, P. tumulosa, P. valida, P. vicina, P. vitulifera
P. acutifolia, P. alpestris, P. alpina, P. angustifolia, P. arctica, P. arenosa, P. argyraea, P. arizonica, P. aurea, P. bellii, P. brassicoides, P. calcicola, P. calderi, P. carinata, P. chambersii, P. cinerea, P. condensata, P. congesta, P. cordiformis, P. curvipes, P. didymocarpa, P. dornii, P. douglasii, P. eburniflora, P. engelmannii, P. eriocarpa, P. fendleri, P. filiformis, P. floribunda, P. fremontii, P. garrettii, P. geyeri, P. globosa, P. gooddingii, P. gordonii, P. gracilis, P. grahamii, P. hemiphysaria, P. hitchcockii, P. humilis, P. integrifolia, P. intermedia, P. kingii, P. klausii, P. lata, P. lepidota, P. lesicii, P. lindheimeri, P. ludoviciana, P. macrocarpa, P. mcvaughiana, P. montana, P. multiceps, P. navajoensis, P. nelsonii, P. newberryi, P. obcordata, P. obdeltata, P. occidentalis, P. oregona, P. ovalifolia, P. pachyphylla, P. pallida, P. parviflora, P. parvula, P. pendula, P. pinetorum, P. prostrata, P. pruinosa, P. pulvinata, P. purpurea, P. pycnantha, P. rectipes, P. recurvata, P. reediana, P. rollinsii, P. saximontana, P. scrotiformis, P. sessilis, P. spatulata, P. subumbellata, P. tenella, P. thamnophila, P. tumulosa, P. valida, P. vicina, P. vitulifera
Synonyms Lesquerella alpestris Vesicaria densiflora, Lesquerella densiflora
Name authority Suksdorf: W. Amer. Sci. 15: 58. (1906) (A. Gray) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 322. (2002)
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