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Physaria alpestris

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

Lindheimer's 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; with a fine taproot; densely pubescent, trichomes (sessile or short-stalked), 4–7-rayed, rays usually furcate at base, sometimes bifurcate, (rough-tuberculate throughout).
Stems

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

several from base, erect or outer decumbent, (often several-branched, branches slender and flexuous), to 8 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 pinnatisect to repand, 3–9(–14) cm, margins entire.

Cauline leaves

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

(sometimes secund, proximal usually petiolate, distal sessile);

blade elliptic, 1–6 cm, (distal with cuneate base), margins entire or deeply dentate.

Racemes

subcorymbose.

dense.

Flowers

sepals oblong, 8–10 mm;

petals spatulate, 12–14 mm.

sepals elliptic to oblong, 3–5.5 mm, (median pair slightly thickened apically, cucullate);

petals (sometimes drying slightly purplish), suborbicular or broadly ovate, 4.5–7(–9) mm, (narrowing gradually to short claw).

Fruiting pedicels

(divaricate, straight), 5–10 mm.

(horizontal or recurved and ascending at tip, sometimes loosely sigmoid), (5–)10–20 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.

globose or broadly ellipsoid, not or slightly inflated, (4–)5–8 mm, (smooth);

valves (not retaining seeds after dehiscence), glabrous;

replum as wide as or wider than fruit;

ovules (8–)12–16(–20) per ovary;

style (1.5–)2–3(–4) mm.

Seeds

flattened, (2–3 mm).

flattened.

2n

= 48–52, 52, 64, 67–70.

= 12.

Physaria alpestris

Physaria lindheimeri

Phenology Flowering May–Jun. Flowering Dec–Apr.
Habitat Alpine scree, rocky ridges, talus slopes, volcanic sands and gravel, serpentine gravel, granitic slopes, mountain shrub, subalpine fir, and whitebark pine communities Heavy, black, claylike soils, or lighter, sandy soils, thickets, field-margins, roadsides, coastal prairies
Elevation (700-)1300-2400 m ((2300-)4300-7900 ft) 20-800 m (100-2600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 624. FNA vol. 7, p. 649.
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. 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. 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 lindheimeri, Alyssum lindheimeri, Lesquerella gracilis var. pilosa, Lesquerella lindheimeri
Name authority Suksdorf: W. Amer. Sci. 15: 58. (1906) (A. Gray) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 325. (2002)
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