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mountain bladderpod

Chambers' bladder-pod, Chambers' physaria, Chambers' twinpod, double bladderpod

Habit Perennials; caudex simple or branched, (often enlarged); densely pubescent, trichomes (sessile or short-stalked), 4–7-rayed, rays furcate or bifurcate, (tuberculate throughout). Perennials; caudex usually simple, sometimes branched, (thick, cespitose); (silvery) pubescent throughout, trichomes few-rayed, rays furcate, sometimes slightly fused at base, (umbonate, lightly tuberculate to nearly smooth).
Stems

simple or several from base, prostrate to erect, 0.5–2(–3.5) dm.

several from base, erect or decumbent (arising laterally, unbranched), 0.5–1.5 mm.

Basal leaves

blade suborbicular or obovate to elliptic, (1–)2–5(–7) cm, margins entire, sinuate, or shallowly dentate.

(petiole slender);

blade obovate to orbicular, 3–6 cm (width 10–20 mm), margins entire or dentate.

Cauline leaves

(often secund, proximal shortly petiolate, distal sessile);

blade linear to obovate or rhombic, 1–2.5(–4) cm, margins entire or shallowly dentate.

blade spatulate, 1–2 cm (width 3–6 mm), margins entire, (apex often acute).

Racemes

dense, compact, (usually elongated in fruit).

congested.

Flowers

sepals elliptic, 5–8.5 mm, (lateral pair boat-shaped, saccate, median pair thickened apically, cucullate);

petals (yellow to orange, sometimes fading purplish), narrowly spatulate or obovate, (6–)7.5–12 mm, (claw undifferentiated from blade, or gradually narrowed to claw, slightly expanded basally).

sepals narrowly lanceolate, 5–8(–9) mm;

petals narrowly oblanceolate, 9–12 mm, (claw undifferentiated from blade).

Fruiting pedicels

(usually sharply sigmoid, rarely nearly divaricate-spreading and straight), 5–15(–20) mm, (stout).

(divaricate, slightly sigmoid), 8–15 mm.

Fruits

(erect), ellipsoid or ovoid, not or slightly obcompressed, (apex not compressed), (6–)7–12 mm;

valves densely pubescent, sometimes sparsely pubescent inside;

ovules (8–)12–20(–24) per ovary;

style 3–7 mm, (sometimes pubescent).

(often purplish in age), didymous, subreniform, strongly inflated, 9–18 × 11–21(–30) mm, (papery, base obtuse to slightly cordate, apical sinus V-shaped or convex, open crests rounded);

valves (2-keeled on side away from replum, each 3-sided, keels rounded, sides flat or slightly convex, retaining seeds after dehiscence), evenly and densely pubescent;

replum oblong, as wide as or wider than fruits, apex obtuse;

ovules 4–12 per ovary;

style (4–)6–8 mm (exceeding sinus).

Seeds

flattened.

flattened.

2n

= 10.

= 8, 10, 16, 24.

Physaria montana

Physaria chambersii

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun(-Aug). Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Banks, rock outcrops, stony slopes and benchlands, from plains into mountains, in sagebrush, open scrub oak, pinyon-juniper woodland, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir on granitic, often gravelly, non-calcareous soils, rarely on calcareous soils Clay hillsides, limestone gravel, dolomite ridges, roadbanks, loose gravel, reddish clay, sagebrush and pinyon-juniper areas
Elevation 1000-3300 m (3300-10800 ft) 1500-3200 m (4900-10500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NE; NM; SD; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; ID; NV; OR; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Physaria montana is a rather variable species that in southwestern Colorado morphologically approaches P. rectipes and in eastern Wyoming approaches P. curvipes; it is unusual in the genus for its frequent presence on igneous, non-calcareous soils.

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

Physaria chambersii has been divided into three varieties based on whether the fruit is stipitate (var. canaani) or not, and whether the caudex elongates (var. sobolifera) or not (var. chambersii). In this species and in some others, e.g., P. newberryi, the latter character often depends on substrate and microclimate. Shifting substrates, such as moving sand and talus, often cause caudices to elongate. The species can be confused with 57. P. newberryi.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 650. FNA vol. 7, p. 631.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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 montana, Alyssum grayanum, Lesquerella montana, Lesquerella montana var. suffruticosa, Lesquerella rosulata P. chambersii var. canaani, P. chambersii var. sobolifera
Name authority (A. Gray) Greene: Fl. Francisc., 249. (1891) Rollins: Rhodora 41: 403, plate 556, figs. 15–18. (1939)
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