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Bell's or Front Range twinpod, Bell's twinpod, Front Range twinpod

rose bladderpod

Habit Perennials; caudex simple, (relatively large); densely (silvery) pubescent, trichomes (sessile, appressed), rays furcate, fused at base. Perennials; caudex simple, (usually woody); densely pubescent, trichomes (sessile or short-stalked), several-rayed, rays simple or furcate, (smooth or tuberculate).
Stems

simple from base, decumbent to nearly prostrate, 0.5–1.3 dm.

simple from base, erect, (unbranched, sparsely leaved), to 7 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 elliptic or obovate to oblong, 4–15 cm, margins entire, dentate, or lyrate-pinnatifid.

Cauline leaves

blade oblanceolate to broadly obovate, 1–2.5 cm, margins entire.

(proximal often narrowed to short petiole, distal sessile);

blade broadly elliptic to obovate or rhombic, 0.5–3(–5) cm, margins entire.

Racemes

dense.

dense or slightly elongated.

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 elliptic to ovate, 3.5–6(–7) mm, (median pair usually thickened apically, cucullate);

petals (white, often purple-veined, fading purplish), suborbicular to obovate, obdeltate, or cuneate, 4.5–10(–12) mm, (often narrowed to broad claw, apex emarginate, less frequently claw undifferentiated from blade).

Fruiting pedicels

(divaricate-ascending to widely spreading, slightly sigmoid to curved), 7–12 mm.

(spreading or recurved, loosely sigmoid), 5–25 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.

(pendent or horizontal, sessile or substipitate), subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, not or slightly inflated, (4–)5–8 mm;

valves (not retaining seeds after dehiscence), glabrous throughout;

replum as wide as or wider than fruit;

ovules 4–8(–12) per ovary;

style 1–3(–4) mm.

Seeds

compressed.

flattened.

2n

= 8.

= 18, 36.

Physaria bellii

Physaria purpurea

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun(-Jul). Flowering Mar–Oct.
Habitat Dark shale, road cuts, ridge crests, washes Rocky draws, canyons, stony hills, ridges, rock crevices on limestone ledges, lava cliffs, sand and gravel of dry stream beds, rocky slopes, talus, shade of bushes or cactus clumps
Elevation 1500-1800 m (4900-5900 ft) 400-2400 m (1300-7900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 628. FNA vol. 7, p. 659.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria
Sibling taxa
P. acutifolia, P. alpestris, P. alpina, P. angustifolia, P. arctica, P. arenosa, P. argyraea, P. arizonica, P. aurea, 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. 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. 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 Vesicaria purpurea, Lesquerella purpurea, Lesquerella purpurea subsp. foliosa, Lesquerella purpurea var. foliosa, P. purpurea var. foliosa
Name authority G. A. Mulligan: Canad. J. Bot. 44: 1662, fig. 1, plate 1, fig. 3. (1966) (A. Gray) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 327. (2002)
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