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roundleaf bladderpod

tuft twinpod

Habit Perennials; caudex simple or branched, (thickened by persistent leaf bases); densely pubescent (foliage usually scabrous), trichomes (sessile or short-stalked), several-rayed, rays furcate near base, (usually strongly umbonate, roughly tuberculate, less so over umbo). Perennials; caudex usually simple, rarely branched, (enlarged with persistent leaf bases, cespitose); (silvery) pubescent throughout, trichomes several-rayed, rays typically furcate, (fused at base, arms slender, tuberculate throughout).
Stems

few to several from base, erect or outer decumbent, 0.5–2.5 dm.

several from base, decumbent to ascending, (arising laterally beneath a dense rosette), less than 0.1 dm.

Basal leaves

blade suborbicular to elliptic or ovate or deltate, 0.5–2(–6.5) cm, margins entire or shallowly dentate.

(petiole slender);

blade (horizontal on the ground), obovate, 0.5–1.5 cm (width 4–8 mm, base tapering abruptly to petiole), margins entire, (apex usually acute, surfaces silvery from a dense incrustation of appressed, stellate trichomes).

Cauline leaves

(proximal shortly petiolate, distal usually sessile);

blade narrowly elliptic or obovate, (0.5–)1–2.5(–4) cm, margins entire.

blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1 cm (width 2–3 mm), margins entire, (surfaces densely stellate pubescent).

Racemes

compact, (± subumbellate to densely corymbiform, elongated or not).

congested, (subumbellate, often almost sessile, barely exceeding basal leaves).

Flowers

sepals ± elliptic, 4.5–7(–8.5) mm, (median pair thickened apically);

petals (sometimes white), suborbicular to obovate or obdeltate, 6.5–15 mm, (base narrowing to broad claw, apex sometimes emarginated).

sepals (yellowish green), narrowly lanceolate, 4–5 mm;

petals (erect), oblanceolate, 6–7 mm, (claw weakly differentiated from blade).

Fruiting pedicels

(usually spreading at right angles, sometimes nearly erect, ± straight), 5–15(–20) mm, (stout).

(divaricate, straight), 5–10 mm.

Fruits

(sessile or shortly stipitate, less than 1 mm), subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, inflated or slightly compressed (terete or subterete), (4–)5–8(–9) mm;

valves (not retaining seeds after dehiscence), glabrous;

replum as wide as or wider than fruit;

ovules 8–16 per ovary;

style 4–8(–9) mm.

didymous, ovate, inflated, 4.8–6 × 6–10 mm, (papery, basal and apical sinuses deep);

valves (retaining seeds after dehiscence), pubescent, trichomes loosely spreading;

replum obovate, 3–4 mm, as wide as or wider than fruit;

ovules 8 per ovary (2–4 abortive);

style 4–6 mm.

Seeds

flattened.

flattened.

Physaria ovalifolia

Physaria condensata

Phenology Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Calcareous knolls and ridges, clay banks, limey slopes, shaley hills, clay patches
Elevation 1800-2400 m (5900-7900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; KS; NE; NM; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
WY
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Of conservation concern.

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

Key
1. Caudices branched (well-developed); petals usually yellow, rarely white, 6.5-12(-14) mm, usually 1.5 times or less as long as sepals; racemes usually not elongated (subumbellate).
subsp. ovalifolia
1. Caudices usually simple; petals white, (9-)11-15 mm, often 2 times as long as sepals; racemes usually elongated.
subsp. alba
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 655. 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. montana, P. multiceps, P. navajoensis, P. nelsonii, P. newberryi, P. obcordata, P. obdeltata, P. occidentalis, P. oregona, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
P. ovalifolia subsp. alba, P. ovalifolia subsp. ovalifolia
Synonyms Lesquerella ovalifolia, Lesquerella engelmannii subsp. ovalifolia
Name authority (Rydberg) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 326. (2002) Rollins: Rhodora 41: 407, plate 556, figs. 1, 9, 10. (1939)
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