Flora of North America species comparison

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Sandbergia perplexa

puzzling halimolobos, puzzling rockcress
Habit Biennials or perennials; densely to sparsely pubescent, trichomes subsessile, minute, Y-shaped or cruciform, mixed with simple or forked ones.
Stems

usually several from caudex, rarely simple, erect to decumbent, unbranched or branched distally, (1–)1.3–4(–5) dm, densely pubescent throughout or glabrescent distally.
Basal leaves

rosulate;

petiole 0.5–2.5 cm;

blade narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, 2–5 cm × 5–15 mm, margins lyrate-pinnatifid to coarsely dentate, apex obtuse to acute, surfaces densely pubescent.
Cauline leaves

4–12;

blade oblong to oblanceolate, 0.6–2 cm × 2–6 mm (base attenuate, not auriculate), margins coarsely dentate to pinnatifid, or (distal) subentire or dentate, apex obtuse to subacute, surfaces densely to sparsely pubescent.
Flowers

sepals 1.5–2 × 0.8–1.2 mm;

petals (3–)4–7 × 1.2–2 mm;

filaments 2–3 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.5–0.6 mm.
Fruiting pedicels

4–15 mm, densely pubescent to glabrescent.
Fruits

ascending to suberect, straight to slightly tortuous, strongly torulose, strongly latiseptate, (1–)1.5–2(–2.5) cm × 0.8–1 mm;

valves each with obscure midvein, densely pubescent to glabrescent;

ovules 12–20 per ovary;

style 0.2–1.3 mm.
Seeds

1–1.3 × 0.5–0.6 mm.
2n

= 14.

Sandbergia perplexa
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Sagebrush flats, pine woods, basaltic gravel and outcrop, sandy banks, rocky hillsides, granitic talus
Elevation 300-1500 m (1000-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

I have seen limited material of var. lemhiensis, and all the differences given by R. C. Rollins (1993) to separate it from var. perplexa (e.g., style and pedicel length, density of indumentum) are quantitative characters that show continuous, uncorrelated variation. Sandbergia perplexa is known from counties in Idaho (Adams, Butte, Custer, Idaho, Lemhi, Valley), Montana (Beaverhead), and Washington (Douglas).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 418.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Boechereae > Sandbergia
Sibling taxa
S. whitedii
Synonyms Sisymbrium perplexum, Halimolobos perplexus, Halimolobos perplexus var. lemhiensis, Sophia perplexa
Name authority (L. F. Henderson) Al-Shehbaz: Harvard Pap. Bot. 12: 426. (2007)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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