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common twinpod, double twinpod, twin bladderpod

Habit Perennials; caudex branched, (cespitose); densely pubescent, trichomes (often stalked, appressed to wavy and spreading), several-rayed, rays furcate or simple, (slightly to strongly umbonate, nearly smooth to strongly tuberculate).
Stems

several from base, decumbent, (unbranched, leafy for the genus), ca. 1 dm.

Basal leaves

(forming a strong rosette; long-petiolate);

blade obovate, 1.5–4(–8) cm, (base ± abruptly narrowing to petiole), margins usually repand or dentate, rarely entire, (apex usually angular, surfaces silvery).

Cauline leaves

blade oblanceolate, 1–2 cm (width 4–8 mm), margins entire or with occasional tooth, (apex acute).

Racemes

congested, (elongated in fruit, greatly exceeding leaves).

Flowers

sepals lanceolate to oblong, 6–8 mm, (often keeled);

petals spatulate, 10–12 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

(spreading, straight or slightly curved), 8–12 mm.

Fruits

(erect), didymous, inflated, 10–20 × 10–20 mm, (papery or firm, basal sinus shallow to deep, sometimes barely notched, apical sinus deep, narrow, usually closed);

valves (retaining seeds after dehiscence), loosely pubescent, trichomes spreading (appearing fuzzy);

replum obovate to broadly oblong, not constricted, 3–4 mm, as wide as or wider than fruit, apex obtuse;

ovules (4–)8 per ovary;

style 7–9 mm.

Seeds

flattened.

Physaria didymocarpa

Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).

The characters used to differentiate Physaria didymocarpa from P. saximontana (especially subsp. dentata) appear to be weak at best: whether there are 4 or 8 ovules per ovary and whether the silicle lacks a basal sinus or one is present. There appears to be intergradation in each of those characters. A traditional circumscription of these species is followed here. Further work is needed at both the species and subspecies level in these taxa.

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

Key
1. Trichomes spreading throughout; basal leaf blade margins dentate.
subsp. lanata
1. Trichomes appressed (except fruits in subsp. didymocarpa); basal leaf blade margins repand to dentate, ± lyrate or, rarely, entire
→ 2
2. Fruits moderately inflated, trichomes spreading.
subsp. didymocarpa
2. Fruits highly inflated (papery), trichomes appressed.
subsp. lyrata
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 633.
Parent taxa 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. bellii, P. brassicoides, P. calcicola, P. calderi, P. carinata, P. chambersii, P. cinerea, P. condensata, P. congesta, P. cordiformis, P. curvipes, P. densiflora, 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
Subordinate taxa
P. didymocarpa subsp. didymocarpa, P. didymocarpa subsp. lanata, P. didymocarpa subsp. lyrata
Synonyms Vesicaria didymocarpa, Coulterina didymocarpa
Name authority (Hooker) A. Gray: Gen. Amer. Bor. 1: 162. (1848)
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