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thick-leaf bladderpod

Bell's or Front Range twinpod, Bell's twinpod, Front Range twinpod

Habit Perennials; caudex usually simple, rarely branched, (loosely mounded, rosette-like growth); densely (silvery or gray) pubescent, trichomes (sessile), 5-rayed, rays bifurcate, slightly fused near base of main rays, (tuberculate throughout, less over umbo). Perennials; caudex simple, (relatively large); densely (silvery) pubescent, trichomes (sessile, appressed), rays furcate, fused at base.
Stems

several from base, decumbent to prostrate, (well-exserted beyond basal leaves), 0.2–0.5 dm.

simple from base, decumbent to nearly prostrate, 0.5–1.3 dm.

Basal leaves

(petiole differentiated from blade);

blade (slightly cupped, leathery, nearly 1 mm thick), oblanceolate to orbicular, 1.2–2 cm, margins entire, (apex acute).

(strongly rosulate; shortly petiolate);

blade broadly obovate, 1.5–7.5 (width 7.5–26 mm, base gradually tapering to petiole), margins shallowly dentate, (apex obtuse).

Cauline leaves

blade spatulate, similar to basal.

blade oblanceolate to broadly obovate, 1–2.5 cm, margins entire.

Racemes

dense, (subumbellate).

dense.

Flowers

sepals (pale yellow), elliptic to oblong, 3.5–4.0 mm, (median pair somewhat thickened apically, cucullate);

petals lingulate, 5–6 mm.

sepals (pale yellow or yellow-green), narrowly lanceolate to narrowly deltate, 4–8 mm;

petals yellow, broadly spatulate to obovate, 9–13 mm, (not clawed).

Fruiting pedicels

(ascending, curved), 5–7 mm.

(divaricate-ascending to widely spreading, slightly sigmoid to curved), 7–12 mm.

Fruits

globose or ellipsoid, slightly inflated (with slight apical constriction), 3–6 mm;

valves pubescent, trichomes closely appressed;

ovules 8 per ovary;

style 1–3 mm (shorter than mature fruit).

didymous, slightly flattened (contrary to replum) to uncompressed, 4–9 × 2–8 mm, (strongly coriaceous, apical and basal sinuses narrow, deep);

valves (retaining seeds after dehiscence), pubescent, trichomes appressed;

replum narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly linear-oblong, as wide as or wider than fruit, apex obtuse;

ovules 4 per ovary;

style more than 3 mm.

Seeds

plump, (oblong).

compressed.

2n

= 8.

Physaria pachyphylla

Physaria bellii

Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul. Flowering Mar–Jun(-Jul).
Habitat Barren areas of mixed white, pink, or reddish limestone and diatomaceous earth Dark shale, road cuts, ridge crests, washes
Elevation 1300-1600 m (4300-5200 ft) 1500-1800 m (4900-5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
MT
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Physaria pachyphylla is known from the Pryor Mountain Desert near the Wyoming state line.

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

Of conservation concern.

Physaria bellii is often found in shale and limestone soils of the Fountain/Ingleside, Lykins, Niobrara, and Pierre formations. It is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 656. FNA vol. 7, p. 628.
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. ovalifolia, 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. 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. 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
Name authority O’Kane & Grady: Novon 17: 187, fig. 4. (2007) G. A. Mulligan: Canad. J. Bot. 44: 1662, fig. 1, plate 1, fig. 3. (1966)
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