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limestone bladderpod

King bladderpod, King's bladder-pod

Habit Plants prostrate, decumbent, or erect; trichomes with large tubercles throughout, ± flat across middle. Perennials; caudex usually simple, sometimes branched, (not thickened); usually densely pubescent, trichomes (sessile or short-stalked), 3–7-rayed, rays distinct or slightly fused at base, typically furcate near base, bifurcate or 3-partite, (not to slightly umbonate, smooth or moderately to strongly tuberculate).
Stems

few to several from base, prostrate to decumbent or erect, 0.5–2(–4) dm.

Basal leaves

blade margins entire.

blade suborbicular to narrowly or broadly oblanceolate to broadly elliptic or rhombic, (1.2–)2–6(–8) cm, (base usually abruptly narrowed to petiole), margins entire, sinuate, or lobed.

Cauline leaves

(proximal petiolate, distal sessile);

blade obovate or elliptic to spatulate, 0.5–2 cm, margins entire.

Racemes

not or somewhat secund, usually dense and compact, sometimes slightly elongated in fruit.

(usually not secund), dense, (sometimes elongated in fruit).

Flowers

sepals lanceolate, 4–6(–7) mm;

petals (yellow, cream-yellow, cream-white, or white), obovate to oblanceolate, 6–13 mm, (claw weakly differentiated from blade).

Fruiting pedicels

usually sigmoid.

(erect to divaricate-ascending or recurved, erect in distal 1/3, usually sigmoid, sometimes straight or slightly curved), 4.5–10(–15) mm.

Fruits

as wide as or longer than wide, apex rounded-acute;

valves glabrous inside;

septum complete;

ovules 8–16 per ovary;

style to 7 mm.

(sessile or substipitate), subglobose, obovoid, or ellipsoid, compressed (sometimes slightly angustiseptate), 3–9 mm, (rigid, apex truncate, retuse, or rounded-acute);

valves sparsely or densely pubescent, sometimes sparsely pubescent inside; (septum sometimes fenestrate, perforate, or obsolete);

ovules 4–16 per ovary;

style 1–9 mm.

Seeds

flattened (sometimes slightly).

Petals

usually yellow, sometimes cream-yellow, cream-white, or white.

Physaria kingii subsp. latifolia

Physaria kingii

Phenology Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Gravelly loam soils, rocky basaltic slopes, limestone outcrops, ridges and flats, canyon bottoms, open pinyon-juniper woodlands
Elevation 2000-2500 m (6600-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico (Baja California)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; ID; NV; OR; UT; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Populations of subsp. latifolia with flowers cream-yellow, cream-white, or white are frequently encountered on the Kaibab Plateau of northern Arizona.

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

Subspecies 7 (7 in the flora).

The Physaria kingii complex is in need of further study. It is widespread in the western United States, mostly in montane environments. This treatment recognizes a highly variable species with generally well-marked, geographically coherent subspecies. Hybridization may be involved in some of the subspecies, especially in subsp. kaibabensis, where molecular data indicate intra-individual genetic variation (pers. obs.).

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

Key
1. Fruits slightly wider than long, apices truncate or retuse, valves pubescent inside
→ 2
1. Fruits as wide as or longer than wide, apices rounded-acute, valves glabrous inside
→ 3
2. Basal leaf blades: margins ± entire (sometimes slightly lobed or widened at base); California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon.
subsp. kingii
2. Basal leaf blades: margins sinuate or lobed, or, sometimes, lyrate; Wallowa and Elkhorn mountains, Oregon.
subsp. diversifolia
3. Fruiting pedicels recurved.
subsp. cobrensis
3. Fruiting pedicels not recurved (divaricate-ascending or ± erect, straight or sigmoid)
→ 4
4. Petals cream-white or white; styles 1-2 mm; Kaibab Plateau, n Arizona.
subsp. kaibabensis
4. Petals yellow (occasionally cream-yellow or cream-white on Kaibab Plateau, Arizona); styles (4-)4.5-9 mm; n Arizona (including Kaibab Plateau), California, Nevada, Utah
→ 5
5. Plants erect; styles 6-9 mm; ovules 4-8 per ovary; se California.
subsp. bernardina
5. Plants ascending, erect, decumbent, or prostrate; styles (4-)4.5-7 mm; ovules (6-)8-16 per ovary; n Arizona, e California, s Nevada, Utah
→ 6
6. Plants prostrate, decumbent, or erect; racemes not or somewhat secund in fruit; ovules usually 8-16 per ovary; n Arizona, e California, s Nevada, Utah.
subsp. latifolia
6. Plants ascending; racemes secund in fruit; ovules (6-)8-12 per ovary; n Utah.
subsp. utahensis
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 647. FNA vol. 7, p. 645.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria > Physaria kingii Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria
Sibling taxa
P. kingii subsp. bernardina, P. kingii subsp. cobrensis, P. kingii subsp. diversifolia, P. kingii subsp. kaibabensis, P. kingii subsp. kingii, P. kingii subsp. utahensis
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. 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. kingii subsp. bernardina, P. kingii subsp. cobrensis, P. kingii subsp. diversifolia, P. kingii subsp. kaibabensis, P. kingii subsp. kingii, P. kingii subsp. latifolia, P. kingii subsp. utahensis
Synonyms Lesquerella latifolia, Lesquerella barnebyi, Lesquerella kingii subsp. latifolia, Lesquerella kingii var. parvifolia, Lesquerella occidentalis var. parvifolia, Lesquerella wardii, P. wardii Vesicaria kingii, Lesquerella kingii
Name authority (A. Nelson) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 325. (2002) (S. Watson) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 324. (2002)
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