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dobie-pod, slender tropidocarpum

Habit Plants sparsely to densely hirsute basally, trichomes simple, to 1.5 mm, these mixed with fewer, forked, stalked ones, sparsely pubescent distally.
Stems

usually ascending, prostrate, or decumbent, rarely erect, (0.4–)1–4.5(–6) dm.

Basal leaves

petiole (0.3–)1–2.5(–3.5) cm;

blade (1.5–)2.5–10(–15) cm, margins pinnatifid to pinnatisect;

lobes 3–8(–12) on each side, ovate, oblong, or linear, (0.1–)0.6–2(–3) cm × (0.5–)1–3(–6) mm, shorter than terminal, margins entire, dentate, or pinnatifid.

Cauline leaves

(proximal) petiolate or (distal and bracts) sessile;

blade similar to basal, smaller and less divided distally.

Flowers

sepals 2.5–4 × 0.7–1.5 mm, glabrous or pubescent;

petals obovate to spatulate, 3–6 × 1.5–4 mm, not clawed;

filaments 2.5–4 mm;

anthers 0.5–0.6 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

erect to ascending, straight, (4–)6–17(–35) mm, pubescent.

Fruits

narrowly linear, (25–)30–60(–70) × 1.5–2(–3) mm, length 13–46 times width;

valves 2, thin-leathery, smooth, usually pubescent or puberulent, rarely glabrescent, trichomes simple, retrorse;

septum incomplete or absent;

ovules 30–70 per ovary;

style (0.3–)0.8–2.5(–4) mm.

Seeds

dark brown, 1.2–1.6 × 0.7–1 mm.

2n

= 16.

Tropidocarpum gracile

Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Roadsides, fields, hillsides, grassy pastures, sandy washes, sage scrub, chaparral, ravines, beaches, gravel flats
Elevation 0-1200 m (0-3900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Tropidocarpum gracile is known from central and coastal to southernmost California.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 532.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Descurainieae > Tropidocarpum
Sibling taxa
T. californicum, T. capparideum
Synonyms T. dubium, T. gracile var. dubium, T. gracile var. scabriusculum, T. macrocarpum, T. scabriusculum
Name authority Hooker: Icon. Pl. 1: plate 43. (1836)
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