Physaria ludoviciana is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family Brassicaceae, with the common names of bladder pod, silver bladderpod,[3]louisiana bladderpod, and foothill bladderpod.[4] It used to be Lesquerella ludoviciana which is now a synonym.[2] The plant is a source of auricolic acid, a rare fatty acid.[5]
Physaria ludoviciana is a taprooted perennial, growing 6-16 inches tall.[6] The flowers have four sepals and four yellow petals and six stamens.[7] The leaves are simple, narrow, and covered with stellate-pilose hairs. The basal leaves are produced in a rosette. The two loculed fruits are a globe-like silicle with dense pilose hairs.[7] Flowering occurs in early spring to mid/late summer, and some plants are polyploids.[8]
Distribution and habitat
It is an endangered species in Illinois and Minnesota, and a threatened species in Wisconsin.[6] In all three states this species is outside of its main range which is more western, growing in the dry plains.[7] The Minnesota populations are found around Red Wing in Goodhue County;[8] they are 500 kilometers from the species main range in the west and it is speculated it was introduction there by the long-range dispersal of a single seed or they are remnants from when the environment was drier and the species had a greater natural range.[7] The Minnesota plants are found in dry prairie on south-facing bluffs in sandy soil originating from weathered limestone; the populations are threatened by the encroachment of woody and invasive species due to human suppression of fires.[7]
Physaria ludoviciana is avoided by grazing animals.[8]
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