Physaria bellii |
Physaria eburniflora |
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Bell's or Front Range twinpod, Bell's twinpod, Front Range twinpod |
Devils Gate twinpod |
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Habit | Perennials; caudex simple, (relatively large); densely (silvery) pubescent, trichomes (sessile, appressed), rays furcate, fused at base. | Perennials; caudex usually simple; densely pubescent, trichomes (sessile), rays often furcate, fused toward base, (nearly smooth). |
Stems | simple from base, decumbent to nearly prostrate, 0.5–1.3 dm. |
simple from base, prostrate, (arising lateral to rosette), 0.1–0.5 dm. |
Basal leaves | (strongly rosulate; shortly petiolate); blade broadly obovate, 1.5–7.5 (width 7.5–26 mm, base gradually tapering to petiole), margins shallowly dentate, (apex obtuse). |
blade suborbicular, (1–)2.5(–3) cm, (base abruptly narrowed to petiole), margins entire, (flat), (surfaces densely silvery pubescent, trichomes in multiple layers, appressed). |
Cauline leaves | blade oblanceolate to broadly obovate, 1–2.5 cm, margins entire. |
(2–4); blade oblanceolate, ca. 1 cm, (base cuneate), margins entire, (apex acute). |
Racemes | dense. |
condensed. |
Flowers | sepals (pale yellow or yellow-green), narrowly lanceolate to narrowly deltate, 4–8 mm; petals yellow, broadly spatulate to obovate, 9–13 mm, (not clawed). |
sepals (erect, purplish to greenish), linear-oblong or boat-shaped, 5.5–6.5 mm, (lateral pair more saccate than median); petals (white), spatulate, 9–12 mm, (claw undifferentiated from blade). |
Fruiting pedicels | (divaricate-ascending to widely spreading, slightly sigmoid to curved), 7–12 mm. |
(divaricate-ascending, nearly straight), 6–10 mm. |
Fruits | didymous, slightly flattened (contrary to replum) to uncompressed, 4–9 × 2–8 mm, (strongly coriaceous, apical and basal sinuses narrow, deep); valves (retaining seeds after dehiscence), pubescent, trichomes appressed; replum narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly linear-oblong, as wide as or wider than fruit, apex obtuse; ovules 4 per ovary; style more than 3 mm. |
strongly didymous, irregular in shape and size, (base slightly cordate, apex with a deep closed sinus), strongly to somewhat inflated, 6–8 × 6–8 mm (± bladderlike, papery); valves (retaining seeds after dehiscence), pubescent; replum elliptic to obovate, not constricted, as wide as or wider than fruit, apex obtuse; ovules 4–8 per ovary; style 4–5 mm, (sparsely pubescent or glabrous). |
Seeds | compressed. |
plump. |
2n | = 8. |
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Physaria bellii |
Physaria eburniflora |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun(-Jul). | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Dark shale, road cuts, ridge crests, washes | Limestone hills, red soil, rocky calcareous slopes, clay depressions, granite and marble detritus |
Elevation | 1500-1800 m (4900-5900 ft) | 1800-3000 m (5900-9800 ft) |
Distribution |
CO
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WY |
Discussion | Of conservation concern. Physaria bellii is often found in shale and limestone soils of the Fountain/Ingleside, Lykins, Niobrara, and Pierre formations. It is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 628. | FNA vol. 7, p. 635. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | G. A. Mulligan: Canad. J. Bot. 44: 1662, fig. 1, plate 1, fig. 3. (1966) | Rollins: Brittonia 33: 333. (1981) |
Web links |