Physaria gordonii |
Physaria nelsonii |
|
---|---|---|
Gordon's bladderpod |
Nelson's bladderpod |
|
Habit | Annuals, biennials, or perennials; (short-lived); with a fine taproot; usually densely pubescent, trichomes (sessile or short-stalked), 4–7-rayed, rays distinct and furcate or bifurcate, (nearly smooth to finely tuberculate). | Perennials; (diminutive); caudex branched, (densely cespitose, mound-forming); densely pubescent, trichomes (flaring, giving a shaggy appearance), usually 4–5-rayed, rays furcate or bifurcate, (strongly tuberculate throughout). |
Stems | several from base, erect to decumbent or prostrate, (unbranched or branched, sometimes densely leaved), 1–3.5(–4.5) dm. |
few to several from base, erect, (from basal tuft), 0.1–0.2(–0.3) dm, (not or just barely exceeding leaves). |
Basal leaves | blade obovate to broadly oblong, 1.5–5(–8) cm, margins lyrate-pinnatifid, dentate, or entire. |
blade spatulate to oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm, (base gradually narrowed to petiole), margins entire. |
Cauline leaves | (proximal sometimes petiolate, distal sessile); blade linear to oblanceolate, often falcate, 1–4(–7) cm, (proximal with base sometimes cuneate), margins entire, repand, or shallowly dentate. |
(absent or few); similar to basal, blade linear. |
Racemes | dense. |
dense, (few-flowered). |
Flowers | sepals elliptic or oblong, 3–6.5 mm, (lateral pair subsaccate, median pair thickened apically, cucullate); petals (widely spreading at anthesis, yellow to orange, claw sometimes whitish), cuneate, obdeltate, or obovate, (tapering to claw), 5–8(–10) mm, (claw often widened at base). |
sepals (pale yellow), oblong to elliptic, 4–5 mm, (median pair usually thickened apically, cucullate); petals (bright yellow), lingulate, 6–8 mm. |
Fruiting pedicels | (divaricate-ascending, sigmoid or, sometimes, nearly straight), 5–15(–25) mm. |
(loosely sigmoid), 3–5 mm. |
Fruits | (shortly stipitate), subglobose, not or slightly compressed, (3–)4–8 mm; valves (not retaining seeds after dehiscence), glabrous throughout; replum as wide as or wider than fruit; ovules (8–)12–20(–26) per ovary; style (1.5–)2–4(–5) mm. |
lanceolate, compressed apically, 2.5–3(–4) mm; valves pubescent, trichomes spreading, (appearing fuzzy), rarely with trichomes inside; ovules 4–8 per ovary; style 2.5–4 mm. |
Seeds | flattened. |
plump, (oblong). |
2n | = 12, 32. |
|
Physaria gordonii |
Physaria nelsonii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Feb–Jul. | Flowering May-mid Jun. |
Habitat | Sandy or light soils, rocky plains, caprock ledges, gravelly brushland, sandy desert washes, stream bottoms, pastures, roadsides, abandoned fields | Limestone, windswept knolls and cliffs, nearly barren areas with other cushion-forming plants |
Elevation | 150-1700 m (500-5600 ft) | 1600-2300 m (5200-7500 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; KS; NM; OK; TX; VA; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
|
UT; WY |
Discussion | Physaria gordonii was reported from Virginia in 1987 by Robert Wright from a Hampton Shale roadcut along the Blue Ridge Parkway, where it was probably a short-lived waif. Subspecies densifolia, of Lincoln County, New Mexico, of which there is now more material than Rollins had available in 1993, appears to represent a suite of environmentally determined, variable, and intergrading characteristics that does not merit taxonomic recognition. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Physaria nelsonii is morphologically similar to 73. P. pycnantha, which traditionally was included in a broader P. nelsonii. These allopatric species are distinguished by styles equal to or exceeding the length of fruit and fruiting stems overtopped by basal leaves (P. nelsonii) versus styles shorter than fruits and fruiting stems usually exserted beyond basal leaves (P. pycnantha). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 7, p. 640. | FNA vol. 7, p. 652. |
Parent taxa | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria | Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Vesicaria gordonii, Alyssum gordonii, Lesquerella gordonii, Lesquerella gordonii var. densifolia, P. gordonii subsp. densifolia, P. gordonii var. densifolia | Lesquerella condensata, Lesquerella alpina subsp. condensata, Lesquerella alpina var. condensata |
Name authority | (A. Gray) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 323. (2002) | O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 326. (2002) |
Web links |