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alpine bladderpod, spatula-leaf bladderpod

Habit Perennials; caudex simple, (relatively small); sparsely to moderately pubescent, trichomes 4- or 5-rayed, rays furcate or bifurcate, not fused, (tuberculate).
Stems

simple from base, erect to decumbent, (well-exserted beyond basal leaves, loosely spreading), 0.3–1.2 dm.

Basal leaves

(erect to prostrate, petiole distinct from blade);

blade (inner) spatulate to oblanceolate, or (outer) oblanceolate or orbicular, 1.5–4 cm, margins entire (rarely folded).

Cauline leaves

blade spatulate, distinctly different from basal.

Racemes

moderately dense, (6–20-flowered).

Flowers

sepals (pale yellow), elliptic, 3.5–5 mm;

petals lingulate, 6–9 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

(strongly sigmoid), 10–20 mm (2 times longer than fruits).

Fruits

lanceolate or orbicular, slightly inflated, (2.5–)3–6 mm, (apex usually strongly narrowed);

valves pubescent, trichomes sparse and closely appressed to surface;

ovules 4–8 per ovary;

style 2.5–6 mm (usually ± equal in length to mature fruit).

Seeds

plump.

Physaria spatulata

Phenology Flowering May-early Jul.
Habitat Grasslands, subalpine meadows, sagebrush, scattered pines, fellfields, calcareous (sometimes alkaline) substrates
Elevation 900-2900 m (3000-9500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
MT; ND; NE; SD; WY; AB; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 663.
Parent taxa 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. 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. subumbellata, P. tenella, P. thamnophila, P. tumulosa, P. valida, P. vicina, P. vitulifera
Synonyms Lesquerella spatulata, Lesquerella alpina var. spatulata, Lesquerella nodosa, P. reediana subsp. spatulata, P. reediana var. spatulata
Name authority (Rydberg) Grady & O’Kane: Novon 17: 190. (2007)
Web links