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large fringe-pod, rib fringe-pod, showy fringe pod

mountain fringepod, narrow leaf lacepod

Stems

1.5–6 dm.

1–6 dm.

Basal leaves

blade oblanceolate, 1.5–4 cm, margins sinuate-dentate to runcinate-pinnatifid, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely sparsely hirsute, trichomes whitish, 0.3–0.4 mm.

blade oblanceolate to elliptic, 1–6 cm, margins often pinnatifid with narrow lobes (lobes 0.5–1.5 mm), sometimes sinuate-dentate or subentire, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely sparsely hirsute, trichomes whitish, 0.3–0.4 mm.

Cauline leaves

blade lance-ovate to lanceolate, widest at base, base auriculate-clasping, auricles extending around stem (at least some leaves).

blade linear to narrowly elliptic, widest near middle or equally wide throughout, base not auriculate or with small, inconspicuous auricles (not extending around stem).

Racemes

internodes 9–18 mm in fruit.

internodes (1.5–)2–4.5 mm in fruit.

Fruiting pedicels

weakly ascending, straight or nearly so, geniculately-reflexed apically, (proximal) 7–18 mm.

smoothly recurved or straight and stiffly spreading, (proximal) 3–6(–10) mm.

Fruits

flat, orbicular, (7–10 mm wide);

valves pubescent or glabrous, trichomes pointed, ± 0.2 mm;

wing entire or with undulate margins, rays distinct, ± 0.1 mm wide.

flat or plano-convex, obovate to nearly orbicular, (2.5–5 mm wide);

valves often glabrous, sometimes pubescent, trichomes clavate, 0.05–0.4 mm;

wing entire or deeply crenate, rays absent or indistinct.

Thysanocarpus radians

Thysanocarpus laciniatus

Phenology Flowering Mar–Apr.
Habitat Meadows in oak woodlands, fields, swales
Elevation 20-400 m (100-1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The large (7–10 mm wide), strongly rayed fruits and geniculately reflexed apices of fruiting pedicels make Thysanocarpus radians a very distinctive species. Occasional plants in northern California appear to be hybrids between T. curvipes and T. radians.

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

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Thysanocarpus laciniatus presents some of the same problems as does T. curvipes. Variety laciniatus contains both diploids and tetraploids (M. D. Windham, unpubl.) and varies in fruit characters, pubescence, and basal leaf shape. Specimens with sinuate-dentate basal leaf margins and small auricles on cauline leaves can be difficult to distinguish from T. curvipes. Preliminary molecular phylogenetic analyses support the distinction between T. curvipes and T. laciniatus var. laciniatus, but suggest that tetraploid populations of the latter may have arisen through hybridization between T. curvipes and a diploid member of the T. laciniatus clade (P. Alexander, unpubl.). Varieties hitchcockii and rigidus are distinctive diploids (Windham, unpubl.) with restricted ranges and may deserve specific rank. Variety rigidus (known to us from only four collections) can be difficult to distinguish from the more purplish specimens of var. laciniatus, but the latter have at least some recurved pedicels and often have pinnatifid leaves.

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

Key
1. Fruit valves pubescent, trichomes 0.05-0.1 mm.
var. hitchcockii
1. Fruit valves usually glabrous, or trichomes 0.2-0.4 mm
→ 2
2. Foliage usually greenish throughout, sometimes purplish basally; basal leaf blade margins pinnatifid or sinuate-dentate; fruiting pedicels smoothly recurved.
var. laciniatus
2. Foliage purplish throughout; basal leaf blade margins subentire to sinuate-dentate; fruiting pedicels straight or nearly so.
var. rigidus
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 741. FNA vol. 7, p. 740.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Thelypodieae > Thysanocarpus Brassicaceae > tribe Thelypodieae > Thysanocarpus
Sibling taxa
T. conchuliferus, T. curvipes, T. laciniatus
T. conchuliferus, T. curvipes, T. radians
Subordinate taxa
T. laciniatus var. hitchcockii, T. laciniatus var. laciniatus, T. laciniatus var. rigidus
Synonyms T. radians var. montanus
Name authority Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 297. (1849) Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 118. (1838)
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