Flora of North America species comparison

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Sisymbrium linifolium

flax-leaf plains mustard, flax-leaf tumble-mustard, lava cress, plains mustard, rush mustard, Salmon River plainsmustard
Habit Perennials; (rhizomatous); usually glabrous basally, rarely sparsely pubescent, glabrous (and sometimes glaucous) distally.
Stems

erect or ascending, unbranched or branched (few) distally, (1.5–)3–7(–11) dm, glabrous distally.
Basal leaves

(soon withered);

not rosulate;

petiole (proximally) (0.5–)1–3 cm;

blade similar to proximal cauline, 1.5–6 cm, margins entire, pinnatifid or pinnatisect;

lateral lobes oblong to linear, 0.5–2.5 cm × 0.3–1(–2) mm, margins entire.
Cauline leaves

sessile or shortly petiolate;

blade usually filiform to linear, rarely oblanceolate, 1–2.5–9(–12) cm × 1–3.5(–5) mm (smaller distally, base attenuate or cuneate), margins usually entire, rarely dentate or pinnately lobed.
Flowers

sepals ascending, oblong to oblong-linear, (3–)4–7 × (0.8–)12 mm;

petals spatulate, (6–)8–12 × (1.5–)2–4 mm, claw 2–5 mm;

filaments (yellowish), (4–)5–7 mm;

anthers linear, 1.5–2.5mm.
Fruiting pedicels

divaricate to ascending, slender, narrower than fruit, (3–)5–9(–11) mm.
Fruits

(divaricate to erect), narrowly linear, smooth, slender, (2.5–)3.5–6.5 cm × 0.9–1.2 mm;

valves glabrous;

ovules 60–94 per ovary;

style 0.5–1 mm;

stigma prominently 2-lobed.
Seeds

1–2 × 0.4–0.6 mm.
2n

= 14.

Sisymbrium linifolium
Phenology Flowering Apr–Aug.
Habitat Rocky or gravelly hillsides, sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper areas, shady rock cliffs, abandoned fields, sandy prairies, steep banks
Elevation 700-2800 m (2300-9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

N. H. Holmgren (2005b) recognized Sisymbrium linifolium and others (see 86. Hesperidanthus) in Schoenocrambe even though the molecular evidence (S. I. Warwick et al. 2002) overwhelmingly shows that the latter is nested within Sisymbrium, whereas the species of Hesperidanthus are not closely related. Indeed, I. A. Al-Shehbaz et al. (2006) placed Hesperidanthus and Sisymbrium in different tribes. This is an example where the superficial resemblances in fruit morphology are the result of convergence and can easily mislead to erroneous taxonomy.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 668.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Sisymbrieae > Sisymbrium
Sibling taxa
S. altissimum, S. erysimoides, S. irio, S. loeselii, S. officinale, S. orientale, S. polyceratium
Synonyms Nasturtium linifolium, Erysimum glaberrimum, Erysimum linifolium, Nasturtium pumilum, Schoenocrambe decumbens, Schoenocrambe linifolia, Schoenocrambe pinnata, Schoenocrambe pygmaea, S. decumbens, S. linifolium var. decumbens, S. linifolium var. pinnatum, S. pygmaeum
Name authority (Nuttall) Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 91. (1838)
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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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