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Mackenzie River yellowcress

blunt-leaf yellow-cress, common yellow-cress, truncate yellowcress

Habit Perennials; (rhizomatous); glabrous throughout. Annuals or, rarely, perennials; (short-lived, terrestrial or of wet habitat, not submerged); glabrous or hirsute, (trichomes cylindrical).
Stems

(simple from base), erect, branched distally, 1–4 dm.

(few to several from base), usually ascending, decumbent, or prostrate, rarely erect, branched distally, 1–4.2(–5) dm, (hirsute proximally).

Basal leaves

rosulate;

[petiole (1.5–)3–7.7(–12) cm];

blade [(2.5–)4–14(–22) cm × (10–)20–40(–70) mm], margins dentate to crenate.

not rosulate;

blade margins pinnatifid.

Cauline leaves

petiolate or subsessile;

blade ovate to lanceolate, 2.5–7 cm × 4–13 mm (smaller distally), base cuneate, not auriculate, margins dentate.

shortly petiolate or sessile;

blade oblong or oblanceolate to obovate, (terminal lobe oblong), (2–)3.5–10(–12) cm × (5–)10–30(–37) mm, (lateral lobe smaller than terminal), base usually auriculate, rarely amplexicaul, margins: proximal pinnatifid or sinuate, distal dentate or entire, (surfaces sparsely pubescent).

Racemes

elongated.

elongated.

Flowers

sepals (deciduous after anthesis), erect, oblong, 4–5 × 1–1.5 mm;

petals whitish, oblanceolate, 6–8 × 2.5–3 mm;

median filaments 3–4.2 mm;

anthers oblong, 0.8–1.2 mm.

sepals erect, oblong, 0.8–1.8 × 0.5–1 mm;

petals (erect), yellow, oblanceolate to spatulate, 0.5–1.8 × 0.2–1 mm;

median filaments 0.9–1.3mm;

anthers ovate, 0.3–0.5 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

divaricate to horizontal, straight, 12–20(–26) mm.

divaricate-ascending to horizontal, straight or recurved, (1.2–)1.7–5(–8) mm.

Fruits

siliques, straight or slightly curved, linear, 14–26 × 2–2.8 mm;

ovules 28–40 per ovary;

style 0.3–1 mm.

silicles or siliques, curved, ovoid to pyriform, 2–8(–8.8) × (0.5–)1–2.5 mm;

valves glabrous;

ovules (20–)30–80 per ovary;

style 0.3–1 mm.

Seeds

uniseriate, brown, ovoid, 1.6–2 mm (1.2–1.5 mm diam.), colliculate.

biseriate, brown, cordiform, 0.5–0.7 mm, colliculate.

2n

= 32.

= 16.

Rorippa crystallina

Rorippa curvipes

Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Meadows, marshes, peaty soils, ditches Muddy shores of lakes and ponds, stream beds and banks, edges of cultivated fields, wet roadside, meadows, seepage areas, ditches, creeks, gravel bars
Elevation 100-3500 m (300-11500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NT
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; AZ; CA; CO; ID; IL; KS; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK; Mexico (Coahuila)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In his original description of Rorippa crystallina, Rollins considered the presence of calcium oxalate crystals in the plant to be a unique feature, but this was later found to be an artifact of treating the plants with formaldehyde (R. L. Stuckey 1972; R. C. Rollins 1993). Characterization of the species as native to Canada was questioned by G. A. Mulligan and W. L. Cody (1995), who believed that it was probably introduced from China. There is no species of mustard from elsewhere in the world that closely resembles R. crystallina, and it should be considered a Canadian endemic.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 499. FNA vol. 7, p. 499.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Rorippa Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Rorippa
Sibling taxa
R. alpina, R. amphibia, R. aquatica, R. austriaca, R. barbareifolia, R. calycina, R. columbiae, R. curvipes, R. curvisiliqua, R. dubia, R. indica, R. microtitis, R. palustris, R. ramosa, R. sessiliflora, R. sinuata, R. sphaerocarpa, R. subumbellata, R. sylvestris, R. tenerrima, R. teres
R. alpina, R. amphibia, R. aquatica, R. austriaca, R. barbareifolia, R. calycina, R. columbiae, R. crystallina, R. curvisiliqua, R. dubia, R. indica, R. microtitis, R. palustris, R. ramosa, R. sessiliflora, R. sinuata, R. sphaerocarpa, R. subumbellata, R. sylvestris, R. tenerrima, R. teres
Synonyms Nasturtium crystallinum Cardamine palustris var. jonesii, Radicula curvipes, Radicula integra, Radicula sinuata var. integra, Radicula sinuata var. truncata, Radicula underwoodii, R. curvipes var. integra, R. curvipes var. truncata, R. integra, R. obtusa var. integra, R. truncata, R. underwoodii
Name authority Rollins: Rhodora 64: 326, plate 1271. (1962) Greene: Pittonia 3: 97. (1896)
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