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silver bladderpod

tuft twinpod

Habit Perennials; caudex usually simple, rarely branched, (enlarged with persistent leaf bases, cespitose); (silvery) pubescent throughout, trichomes several-rayed, rays typically furcate, (fused at base, arms slender, tuberculate throughout).
Stems

several from base, decumbent to ascending, (arising laterally beneath a dense rosette), less than 0.1 dm.

Basal leaves

(petiole slender);

blade (horizontal on the ground), obovate, 0.5–1.5 cm (width 4–8 mm, base tapering abruptly to petiole), margins entire, (apex usually acute, surfaces silvery from a dense incrustation of appressed, stellate trichomes).

Cauline leaves

blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1 cm (width 2–3 mm), margins entire, (surfaces densely stellate pubescent).

Racemes

congested, (subumbellate, often almost sessile, barely exceeding basal leaves).

Flowers

sepals (yellowish green), narrowly lanceolate, 4–5 mm;

petals (erect), oblanceolate, 6–7 mm, (claw weakly differentiated from blade).

Fruiting pedicels

(divaricate, straight), 5–10 mm.

Fruits

didymous, ovate, inflated, 4.8–6 × 6–10 mm, (papery, basal and apical sinuses deep);

valves (retaining seeds after dehiscence), pubescent, trichomes loosely spreading;

replum obovate, 3–4 mm, as wide as or wider than fruit;

ovules 8 per ovary (2–4 abortive);

style 4–6 mm.

Seeds

flattened.

Physaria argyraea

Physaria condensata

Phenology Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Calcareous knolls and ridges, clay banks, limey slopes, shaley hills, clay patches
Elevation 1800-2400 m (5900-7900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; n Mexico
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
WY
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora).

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

Of conservation concern.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 627. FNA vol. 7, p. 631.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria Brassicaceae > tribe Physarieae > Physaria
Sibling taxa
P. acutifolia, P. alpestris, P. alpina, P. angustifolia, P. arctica, P. arenosa, P. arizonica, P. aurea, P. bellii, P. brassicoides, P. calcicola, P. calderi, P. carinata, P. chambersii, P. cinerea, P. condensata, P. congesta, P. cordiformis, P. curvipes, P. densiflora, P. didymocarpa, P. dornii, P. douglasii, P. eburniflora, P. engelmannii, P. eriocarpa, P. fendleri, P. filiformis, P. floribunda, P. fremontii, P. garrettii, P. geyeri, P. globosa, P. gooddingii, P. gordonii, P. gracilis, P. grahamii, P. hemiphysaria, P. hitchcockii, P. humilis, P. integrifolia, P. intermedia, P. kingii, P. klausii, P. lata, P. lepidota, P. lesicii, P. lindheimeri, P. ludoviciana, P. macrocarpa, P. mcvaughiana, P. montana, P. multiceps, P. navajoensis, P. nelsonii, P. newberryi, P. obcordata, P. obdeltata, P. occidentalis, P. oregona, P. ovalifolia, P. pachyphylla, P. pallida, P. parviflora, P. parvula, P. pendula, P. pinetorum, P. prostrata, P. pruinosa, P. pulvinata, P. purpurea, P. pycnantha, P. rectipes, P. recurvata, P. reediana, P. rollinsii, P. saximontana, P. scrotiformis, P. sessilis, P. spatulata, P. subumbellata, P. tenella, P. thamnophila, P. tumulosa, P. valida, P. vicina, P. vitulifera
P. acutifolia, P. alpestris, P. alpina, P. angustifolia, P. arctica, P. arenosa, P. argyraea, P. arizonica, P. aurea, P. bellii, P. brassicoides, P. calcicola, P. calderi, P. carinata, P. chambersii, P. cinerea, P. congesta, P. cordiformis, P. curvipes, P. densiflora, P. didymocarpa, P. dornii, P. douglasii, P. eburniflora, P. engelmannii, P. eriocarpa, P. fendleri, P. filiformis, P. floribunda, P. fremontii, P. garrettii, P. geyeri, P. globosa, P. gooddingii, P. gordonii, P. gracilis, P. grahamii, P. hemiphysaria, P. hitchcockii, P. humilis, P. integrifolia, P. intermedia, P. kingii, P. klausii, P. lata, P. lepidota, P. lesicii, P. lindheimeri, P. ludoviciana, P. macrocarpa, P. mcvaughiana, P. montana, P. multiceps, P. navajoensis, P. nelsonii, P. newberryi, P. obcordata, P. obdeltata, P. occidentalis, P. oregona, P. ovalifolia, P. pachyphylla, P. pallida, P. parviflora, P. parvula, P. pendula, P. pinetorum, P. prostrata, P. pruinosa, P. pulvinata, P. purpurea, P. pycnantha, P. rectipes, P. recurvata, P. reediana, P. rollinsii, P. saximontana, P. scrotiformis, P. sessilis, P. spatulata, P. subumbellata, P. tenella, P. thamnophila, P. tumulosa, P. valida, P. vicina, P. vitulifera
Subordinate taxa
P. argyraea subsp. argyraea
Synonyms Vesicaria argyraea, Alyssum argyraeum, Lesquerella argyraea
Name authority (A. Gray) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 321. (2002) Rollins: Rhodora 41: 407, plate 556, figs. 1, 9, 10. (1939)
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