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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
from FNA
AZ; KS; NM; OK; TX; VA; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
UT; WY
[BONAP county map]
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
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. 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. 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 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)
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