Physaria alpestris |
Physaria pachyphylla |
|
---|---|---|
alpine twin-pod, Washington bladder-pod, Washington twin-pod |
thick-leaf 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 usually simple, rarely branched, (loosely mounded, rosette-like growth); densely (silvery or gray) pubescent, trichomes (sessile), 5-rayed, rays bifurcate, slightly fused near base of main rays, (tuberculate throughout, less over umbo). |
Stems | several from base, decumbent to ascending, (unbranched), 0.5–1.5 dm. |
several from base, decumbent to prostrate, (well-exserted beyond basal leaves), 0.2–0.5 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). |
(petiole differentiated from blade); blade (slightly cupped, leathery, nearly 1 mm thick), oblanceolate to orbicular, 1.2–2 cm, margins entire, (apex acute). |
Cauline leaves | blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm (width 3–5 mm), margins entire. |
blade spatulate, similar to basal. |
Racemes | subcorymbose. |
dense, (subumbellate). |
Flowers | sepals oblong, 8–10 mm; petals spatulate, 12–14 mm. |
sepals (pale yellow), elliptic to oblong, 3.5–4.0 mm, (median pair somewhat thickened apically, cucullate); petals lingulate, 5–6 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | (divaricate, straight), 5–10 mm. |
(ascending, curved), 5–7 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 ellipsoid, slightly inflated (with slight apical constriction), 3–6 mm; valves pubescent, trichomes closely appressed; ovules 8 per ovary; style 1–3 mm (shorter than mature fruit). |
Seeds | flattened, (2–3 mm). |
plump, (oblong). |
2n | = 48–52, 52, 64, 67–70. |
|
Physaria alpestris |
Physaria pachyphylla |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Alpine scree, rocky ridges, talus slopes, volcanic sands and gravel, serpentine gravel, granitic slopes, mountain shrub, subalpine fir, and whitebark pine communities | Barren areas of mixed white, pink, or reddish limestone and diatomaceous earth |
Elevation | (700-)1300-2400 m ((2300-)4300-7900 ft) | 1300-1600 m (4300-5200 ft) |
Distribution |
WA
|
MT |
Discussion | Of conservation concern. Physaria pachyphylla is known from the Pryor Mountain Desert near the Wyoming state line. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 624. | FNA vol. 7, p. 656. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Lesquerella alpestris | |
Name authority | Suksdorf: W. Amer. Sci. 15: 58. (1906) | O’Kane & Grady: Novon 17: 187, fig. 4. (2007) |
Web links |