Physaria lepidota

Physaria lepidota, the Kane County twinpod, is a plant species endemic to Utah. It is known only from Kane, Washington, and Garfield Counties in the southern part of the state.[2] It grows on rocky slopes and outcrops, and sometimes in disturbed areas.[3]

Physaria lepidota
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Physaria
Species:
P. lepidota
Binomial name
Physaria lepidota
Rollins
Synonyms[1]

(for subsp. membranacea)

  • Physaria chambersii var. membranacea Rollins
  • Physaria lepidota var. membranacea (Rollins) Rollins

Physaria lepidota is a perennial herb with most of the above-ground parts covered with a silvery pubescence. Stems branch at the base but rarely above, sometimes reaching a height of 20 cm (8 inches). Flowers are yellow, born in a dense raceme. Fruits are highly inflated, up to 20 mm (0.8 inches) across with purplish papery walls.[4][5]

Subspecies

Despite the limited range of the species, two subspecies are generally recognized, differing in the shapes of the fruits and of the hairs in the pubescence:[6][7]

Physaria lepidota subsp. lepidota

and

Physaria lepidota subsp. membranacea

The two subspecies also differ in chromosome number (2n=16 for subsp. lepidota, 2n=8 for subsp. membranacea).[3]

References
  1. The Plant List
  2. USDA Plant Resources Conservation Service, Plants Profile
  3. Flora of North America v 7 p 648.
  4. Rollins, R. C. 1981. Studies in the genus Physaria (Cruciferae). Brittonia 33(3): 332–341.
  5. Holmgren, N. H., P. K. Holmgren & A.J. Cronquist. 2005. Vascular plants of the intermountain west, U.S.A., subclass Dilleniidae. 2(B): 1–488. In A.J. Cronquist, A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren, J. L. Reveal & P. K. Holmgren (eds.) Intermountain Flora. Hafner Publishing Co., New York.
  6. O'Kane, Steve Lawrence. Novon 17(4): 531. 2007.
  7. Rollins, Reed Clark. Studies in the genus Physaria (Cruciferae). Brittonia 33(3): 338. 1981.
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