The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Fendler bladderpod, Fendler's bladderpod

Devils Gate twinpod

Habit Perennials; caudex branched, (sometimes woody at base); densely (silvery) pubescent, trichomes (sessile or short-stalked), several-rayed, rays not furcate, fused (webbed) ca. 1/2 their length, (tuberculate throughout or tubercles scarce or absent over center). Perennials; caudex usually simple; densely pubescent, trichomes (sessile), rays often furcate, fused toward base, (nearly smooth).
Stems

several from base, erect or laterally decumbent, (usually unbranched), (0.3–)0.5–2.5(–4) dm.

simple from base, prostrate, (arising lateral to rosette), 0.1–0.5 dm.

Basal leaves

blade linear to somewhat elliptic, 1–4(–8) cm, margins entire or coarsely dentate.

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

(shortly petiolate);

blade usually linear to narrowly oblanceolate, rarely elliptic to rhombic, 0.5–2.5 cm, (base narrowing to petiole), margins entire or remotely dentate (sometimes involute).

(2–4);

blade oblanceolate, ca. 1 cm, (base cuneate), margins entire, (apex acute).

Racemes

loose to somewhat dense.

condensed.

Flowers

sepals elliptic to oblong, 5–8 mm, (lateral pair not saccate, median pair often thickened apically, ± cucullate);

petals (usually orange or orange-yellow at junction of blade and claw, sometimes also with orange guidelines), obdeltate to obovate, 8–12 mm, (claw relatively short).

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-spreading to erect, usually straight or slightly curved, occasionally sigmoid), 8–20(–40) mm.

(divaricate-ascending, nearly straight), 6–10 mm.

Fruits

globose, broadly ellipsoid, or ovoid, not or slightly inflated, 5–8 mm, (firm, apex usually acute);

valves (not retaining seeds after dehiscence, often reddish in age), glabrous throughout;

replum as wide as or wider than fruit;

ovules (12–)20–32(–40) per ovary;

style (2–)3–6 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

flattened.

plump.

2n

= 12, 14, 24.

Physaria fendleri

Physaria eburniflora

Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Limestone outcrops, gypseous hills, gravels, sandy washes, rocky slopes, bluffs, shallow drainage areas, plains and desert shrub areas Limestone hills, red soil, rocky calcareous slopes, clay depressions, granite and marble detritus
Elevation 100-2000 m (300-6600 ft) 1800-3000 m (5900-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; KS; NM; OK; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
WY
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In dry areas, Physaria fendleri may flower following suitable rains at any time of the year.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 636. FNA vol. 7, p. 635.
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. 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. 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. 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
Synonyms Vesicaria fendleri, Alyssum fendleri, Alyssum stenophyllum, Lesquerella fendleri, Lesquerella foliacea, Lesquerella praecox, Lesquerella stenophylla, Vesicaria stenophylla, Vesicaria stenophylla var. diffusa, Vesicaria stenophylla var. humilis, Vesicaria stenophylla var. procera
Name authority (A. Gray) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 323. (2002) Rollins: Brittonia 33: 333. (1981)
Web links