Flora of North America species comparison

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Thysanocarpus

Thysanocarpus conchuliferus

fringe-pod, lacepod

Santa Cruz Island fringepod, Santa Cruz Island lacepod
Habit Annuals; not scapose; (glaucous), glabrous or pubescent.
Stems

erect, unbranched or branched distally.

0.5–1.5 dm.
Leaves

basal and cauline;

petiolate or sessile;

basal (often withered by anthesis or fruiting), not or, rarely, rosulate, shortly petiolate, blade margins subentire, dentate, pinnatifid, or pinnatisect [rarely entire];

cauline sessile, blade (base usually auriculate), margins entire, dentate, or pinnatifid to pinnatisect.

Basal leaves

blade oblanceolate to elliptic, 1–2.5(–3.5) cm, margins often pinnatifid, sometimes sinuate-dentate, surfaces glabrous.
Cauline leaves

blade lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, or nearly linear, widest near base or middle, base auriculate-clasping, auricles extending around stem (at least some leaves).
Racemes

(corymbose, several-flowered), considerably elongated in fruit.

internodes 0.7–1.5(–2) mm in fruit.
Flowers

sepals ascending, oblong to ovate, lateral pair not saccate basally;

petals white to purplish, spatulate to oblong, (subequaling or longer than sepals), claw not differentiated from blade;

stamens slightly tetradynamous;

filaments slightly dilated basally;

anthers ovate;

nectary glands each side of lateral stamen or semi-annular, median glands absent.

Fruiting pedicels

often recurved, sometimes divaricate-ascending, slender.

stiffly divaricate-ascending to slightly recurved, (proximal) 3.5–6.5 mm.
Fruits

(pendulous), sessile, cymbiform, orbicular, obovate [ovate, elliptic], smooth, strongly latiseptate;

valves each with prominent midvein, glabrous or pubescent;

replum entire or crenate, often perforated, (winged, wing flattened, with radiating rays);

septum obsolete;

ovule 1 per ovary;

style distinct (relatively short) or obsolete;

stigma entire.

cymbiform, (wings strongly incurved toward flat side of fruit);

valves glabrous;

wing with spatulate lobes (these sometimes joined distally, 0.25–0.4 mm wide at narrowest), rays absent or indistinct.
Seeds

aseriate, flattened, not winged, elliptical to orbicular;

seed coat not mucilaginous when wetted;

cotyledons accumbent.

Thysanocarpus

Thysanocarpus conchuliferus
Phenology Flowering Mar–Apr.
Habitat Rocky ridges, slopes, cliffs, canyons
Elevation 50-500 m (200-1600 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
w North America; nw Mexico
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 5 (4 in the flora).

Thysanocarpus erectus S. Watson occurs in northwestern Mexico on Cedros and Guadalupe islands and on the mainland of Baja California.

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

Of conservation concern.

Thysanocarpus conchuliferus is known from Santa Cruz Island, where T. laciniatus and T. curvipes also occur. Rarely, specimens of those two species will have slightly incurved wings, or fruits folded in pressing. In such cases, the very dense, short inflorescences of T. conchuliferus provide a useful distinguishing feature.

Thysanocarpus conchuliferus is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Fruits cymbiform, wings strongly incurved (toward flat side of fruit); raceme internodes ca. 0.7-1.5(-2) mm in fruit.
T. conchuliferus
1. Fruits flat or plano-convex, wings not strongly incurved; raceme internodes (1.5-)2-18 mm in fruit
→ 2
2. Fruiting pedicels weakly ascending, straight or nearly so (geniculately reflexed apically), 7-18 mm; fruits 7-10 mm wide, wings with distinct rays ± 0.1 mm wide.
T. radians
2. Fruiting pedicels smoothly recurved or straight and stiffly spreading, 2-7(-12) mm; fruits 2.5-6(-9) mm wide, wings with indistinct rays or (0-)0.2-0.5 mm wide
→ 3
3. Cauline leaf blades lanceolate, widest at base, bases auriculate-clasping, auricles extending around stems (at least some leaves); basal leaf blade margins subentire to sinuate-dentate, never pinnatifid, surfaces often hirsute, sometimes glabrous.
T. curvipes
3. Cauline leaf blades linear to narrowly elliptic, widest near middle or equally wide throughout, bases not auriculate or inconspicuous auricles not extending around stems; basal leaf blade margins pinnatifid, sinuate-dentate, or subentire, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely sparsely hirsute.
T. laciniatus
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 739. Authors: Patrick J. Alexander, Michael D. Windham. FNA vol. 7, p. 740.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Thelypodieae Brassicaceae > tribe Thelypodieae > Thysanocarpus
Sibling taxa
T. curvipes, T. laciniatus, T. radians
Subordinate taxa
T. conchuliferus, T. curvipes, T. laciniatus, T. radians
Synonyms T. conchuliferus var. planiusculus, T. laciniatus var. conchuliferus
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 69, plate 18, fig. A. (1830) Greene: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 13: 218. (1886)
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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