Lepidium alyssoides

A. Gray

Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 10. 1849.

Synonyms: Lepidium alyssoides var. angustifolium (C. L. Hitchcock) Rollins Lepidium alyssoides var. junceum Rollins Lepidium alyssoides var. minus Thellung Lepidium alyssoides var. polycarpum Thellung Lepidium alyssoides var. streptocarpum Thellung Lepidium montanum subsp. alyssoides (A. Gray) C. L. Hitchcock Lepidium montanum var. alyssoides (A. Gray) M. E. Jones Lepidium montanum subsp. angustifolium (C. L. Hitchcock) C. L. Hitchcock Lepidium montanum var. angustifolium C. L. Hitchcock Lepidium tortum
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 7. Treatment on page 575. Mentioned on page 572, 576, 582, 587.

Perennials or subshrubs; (woody base often aboveground); glabrous or minutely puberulent. Stems few to several from base, erect to ascending, branched throughout, (0.7–)1–4.8(–6.1) dm. Basal leaves often not rosulate; petiole 1–6 cm; blade pinnately lobed, (1–)1.5–8(–11) cm × (5–)10–35 mm, margins (of lobes) entire or denticulate. Cauline leaves sessile; blade linear, (0.8–)1.3–7(–9.5) cm × (0.7–)1–2(–3) mm, base attenuate, not auriculate, margins entire. Racemes elongated in fruit; rachis puberulent or glabrous. Fruiting pedicels divaricate to horizontal, straight or recurved to somewhat sigmoid, (terete), 3.5–8(–11) × 0.2 mm, glabrous or puberulent adaxially. Flowers: sepals ovate to oblong, 1–2 × 0.8–1 mm; petals white, suborbicular, 2–3 × 1–2 mm, claw 0.5–1.5 mm; stamens 6; filaments 1.5–2 mm, (glabrous); anthers 0.2–0.4 mm. Fruits broadly ovate, 2–3.7(–4.3) × (1.5–)1.8–2.9(–3.4) mm, apically winged, apical notch 0.1–0.3(–0.4) mm deep; valves thin, smooth, not veined, glabrous; style 0.2–0.6 mm, exserted beyond apical notch. Seeds ovate, 1.5–1.8(–2) × 0.9–1.2(–1.5) mm. 2n = 32.


Phenology: Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat: Pinyon-juniper or sagebrush communities, prairies, grasslands, sandstone outcrops, gypsum flats, sand dunes, dry flats and river bottoms, gravelly roadsides
Elevation: 1200-2800 m

Distribution

V7 924-distribution-map.gif

Ariz., Colo., Nev., N.Mex., Tex., Utah, Wyo., Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí).

Discussion

Of the five varieties of Lepidium alyssoides recognized by R. C. Rollins (1993), one (var. mexicanum Rollins) is a short-tufted form of the species restricted to Mexico that does not seem to merit recognition, another (var. junceum) is a glabrescent form of the type variety, a third (var. eastwoodiae) is treated below as a distinct species, and the fourth (var. angustifolium) is included here within L. alyssoides.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Lepidium alyssoides"
Ihsan A. Al-Shehbaz +  and John F. Gaskin +
A. Gray +
Ariz. +, Colo. +, Nev. +, N.Mex. +, Tex. +, Utah +, Wyo. +, Mexico (Chihuahua +, Coahuila +, Nuevo León +  and San Luis Potosí). +
1200-2800 m +
Pinyon-juniper or sagebrush communities, prairies, grasslands, sandstone outcrops, gypsum flats, sand dunes, dry flats and river bottoms, gravelly roadsides +
Flowering May–Jul. +
Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. +
Lepidium alyssoides var. angustifolium +, Lepidium alyssoides var. junceum +, Lepidium alyssoides var. minus +, Lepidium alyssoides var. polycarpum +, Lepidium alyssoides var. streptocarpum +, Lepidium montanum subsp. alyssoides +, Lepidium montanum var. alyssoides +, Lepidium montanum subsp. angustifolium +, Lepidium montanum var. angustifolium +  and Lepidium tortum +
Lepidium alyssoides +
Lepidium +
species +