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sheep mountain bladderpod

Arizona bladderpod

Habit Perennials; caudex branched, (thickened, cespitose); densely pubescent, trichomes 5- or 6-rayed, rays slightly fused at base, furcate or bifurcate, (tuberculate throughout). Perennials; caudex branched, (cespitose); densely (silvery gray) pubescent, trichomes (sessile or subsessile), (4-), 6-, or 8-rayed, rays fused at base, furcate or bifurcate, (slightly umbonate, tuberculate throughout).
Stems

few from base, well-exserted from basal leaves, 0.4–1(–1.2) dm.

simple or few to several from base, erect, (unbranched, slender), 0.2–1(–1.5) dm.

Basal leaves

blade (erect), obovate to orbicular, 1.5–2.5 cm, (base evidently distinct from petiole), margins entire, (folded).

(densely tufted, not rosulate, reflexed in age);

blade obovate to oblanceolate, 0.7–2(–3) cm, margins usually entire, sometimes repand or shallowly dentate, (apex acute).

Cauline leaves

blade spatulate, margins entire.

similar to basal, becoming narrower distally, somewhat reflexed, (distal) blade linear or narrowly oblanceolate, 0.5–2.5(–5.5) cm.

Racemes

compact, subumbellate.

dense, often subcorymbiform.

Flowers

sepals (pale yellow), 4–5 mm;

petals lingulate, 6–7 mm.

sepals (green or greenish yellow), ovate or broadly ovate, 3.5–6.5 mm, (lateral pair subsaccate, cucullate, median pair thickened, slightly cucullate apically);

petals (spreading), oblanceolate to obovate, 5.5–8(–10) mm, (claw erect).

Fruiting pedicels

(ascending, curved to slightly sigmoid), 5–8 mm.

(erect or divaricate-spreading, straight or slightly curved), (3–)5–10(–15) mm.

Fruits

ovoid to ellipsoid, slightly inflated, (apex not compressed), 3–4 mm;

valves pubescent, trichomes erect on mature fruits, (± appearing fuzzy);

ovules 8 per ovary;

style 4–5 mm, (glabrous).

(sessile or substipitate), suborbicular to ovoid or ellipsoid, slightly inflated, 4–7 mm;

valves pubescent outside, trichomes substipitate, spreading, sometimes sparsely pubescent inside, trichomes sessile, smooth;

ovules 4–10(–16) per ovary;

style (0.5–)1–2(–4) mm (shorter than fruit).

Seeds

plump.

flattened.

2n

= 10.

Physaria eriocarpa

Physaria arizonica

Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Windswept ridge lines and mountain peaks in limestone rubble and cobbles Sandy and gravelly soils, limey knolls or limestone chip, often in open stands of sagebrush-pinyon, pinyon-juniper, Gambel oak and sometimes ponderosa pine
Elevation 2600-3000 m (8500-9800 ft) 1000-2200 m (3300-7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
MT
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Physaria eriocarpa is known from Sheep Mountain.

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

The circumscription of Physaria arizonica here is quite broad and includes plants that have densely tufted basal leaves and relatively few or no cauline leaves; plants that are loosely tufted and have several cauline leaves; and plants that have a strongly branched caudex, leafy stems, and sterile shoots (var. andrusensis). Additional study is needed to understand the pattern of variation in this complex species; all of the characters given above vary considerably.

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

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 636. FNA vol. 7, p. 627.
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. argyraea, 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. 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. 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
Synonyms Lesquerella arizonica, Lesquerella arizonica var. nudicaulis, P. arizonica var. andrusensis
Name authority Grady & O’Kane: Novon 17: 184, fig. 3. (2007) (S. Watson) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz: Novon 12: 321. (2002)
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