Physaria obcordata

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Physaria obcordata
Physaria obcordata.jpg
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Physaria
Species:
P. obcordata
Binomial name
Physaria obcordata
Rollins

Physaria obcordata is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Dudley Bluffs twinpod. It is similar in appearance to the more common Piceance twinpod, but can be distinguished by looking at the leaves through a hand lens. The Piceance twinpod, Physaria acutifolia has stellate hairs when viewed through a hand lens while Physaria ocordata has markings that look like a satellite dish, or a circle with a dot in the middle. It is endemic to Colorado, where it is found only in the Piceance Basin in Rio Blanco County. [1] It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

This plant was discovered in 1982 and described to science in 1983. [2] Its Piceance Basin habitat is open, barren, and made up of white shale outcrops in the Green River Formation. The topography has been shaped by rivers cutting down through the substrate. Much of the rock is oil shale covering deposits of natural gas. Heavy petroleum exploration and extraction activities occur throughout the area, and the region is mined for minerals such as nahcolite and dawsonite. [3] This mining and surveying activity is the main threat to the species [4] and its relative, the Dudley Bluffs bladderpod (Physaria congesta). [3] This threat is considered "imminent". [3] 100% of the plant's habitat is potential territory for oil and mineral mining. [1] The threat includes drilling activity as well as associated activities including road maintenance, pipeline installation, utilities, and construction of new housing and power plants. [3] Increased pollution and dust may affect the plants.

The Dudley Bluffs twinpod is a perennial herb with a branching caudex covered with the shredded remains of previous seasons' leaves. The erect stems grow 12 to 18 centimeters tall. The wide lance-shaped basal leaves are 4 to 8 centimeters long. The upper leaves are narrower but not much shorter. The inflorescence is a loose raceme of flowers with yellow-green sepals and yellow petals up to a centimeter in length. The heart-shaped fruit is a hanging, inflated silique that is papery in texture and roughly half a centimeter long. [5] The plant is pollinated by bees of the genera Halictus , Lasioglossum , Dialictus , and Andrena . [3]

Though rare overall with a very small distribution, this plant is locally abundant, with 10,000 individuals at one site. [4] There are ten occurrences and an estimated total of up to 27,800 individuals. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Physaria</i> Genus of flowering plants

Physaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. Many species are known generally as twinpods, bladderpods, or lesquerella. They are native to the Americas, with many species endemic to western North America. They are densely hairy annual and perennial herbs often growing prostrate or decumbent, along the ground in patches or clumps. They bear inflorescences of bright yellow flowers. The fruit is often notched deeply, dividing into twin sections, giving the genus its common name.

<i>Physaria chambersii</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria chambersii is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Chambers' twinpod. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert woodland and plateau habitat. It is a perennial herb growing from a taproot and producing a clumpy rosette of stems up to 15 centimeters long, growing erect and falling over in fruit. The plant is covered in a silver-white coat of hairs. The leaves in the rosette are rounded to oval, up to 6 centimeters long by 2 wide, and smaller, spoon-shaped leaves are located along the stems. The inflorescence is a raceme of four-petalled golden yellow flowers. The fruit is an inflated pod which may be over a centimeter long. It is notched and divided into two chambers, each containing 4 seeds.

Paysonia perforata, known by the common name Spring Creek bladderpod, is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family. It is endemic to Tennessee in the United States, where it is known only from Wilson County. This very rare plant is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is federally listed as an endangered species.

<i>Physaria filiformis</i> Species of plant

Physaria filiformis is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Missouri bladderpod and limestone glade bladderpod. It is native to Missouri and Arkansas in the United States. It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1987 and it was downlisted to threatened status in 2003. P. filiformis remains listed as an endangered species at the state level in Missouri.

<i>Schoenocrambe argillacea</i>

Schoenocrambe argillacea is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names clay reed-mustard, Uinta Basin plainsmustard, and clay thelypody.

<i>Glaucocarpum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Glaucocarpum is a monotypic plant genus containing the single species Glaucocarpum suffrutescens, a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names toad-flax cress, shrubby reed-mustard, Uinta Basin waxfruit and waxfruit mustard. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from Duchesne and Uintah Counties. It is threatened by habitat degradation and destruction. It is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States.

<i>Townsendia aprica</i> Species of flowering plant

Townsendia aprica is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Last Chance Townsend daisy. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known from three counties. It faces a number of threats and it is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

Physaria hemiphysaria is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names Intermountain bladderpod and skyline bladderpod. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it grows on rocky ridges and outcrops of sandstone, shale, clay, and sand.

Physaria parviflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Piceance bladderpod and frosty bladderpod. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it occurs in Garfield, Mesa, and Rio Blanco Counties.

<i>Physaria bellii</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria bellii is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Bell's twinpod and Front Range twinpod. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States.

<i>Oenothera harringtonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Oenothera harringtonii is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names Arkansas Valley evening primrose and Colorado Springs evening primrose. It is endemic to the state of Colorado in the United States.

<i>Physaria tenella</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria tenella is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Moapa bladderpod and slender bladderpod. It is native to western North America from Utah to Sonora, where it grows mainly in desert habitat. This is an annual herb producing several hairy multibranched erect to spreading stems sometimes exceeding half a meter long. The basal leaves are up to 6.5 centimeters long and sometimes toothed, and there are smaller leaves higher on the stem. The inflorescence is a raceme of flowers at the tip of the stem. The mustardlike flower has four orange to bright yellow petals each up to a centimeter long. The fruit is a plump, hairy, rounded capsule containing flat orange seeds.

<i>Physaria pallida</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria pallida is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name white bladderpod. It is endemic to Texas in the United States, where it is known only from San Augustine County. It is federally listed as an endangered species.

<i>Physaria congesta</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria congesta is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Dudley Bluffs bladderpod. It is endemic to western Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from seven occurrences in Rio Blanco County. It is federally listed as a threatened species.

<i>Physaria kingii</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria kingii is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name King bladderpod. It is native to western North America from Utah to Baja California, where it grows in dry and rocky habitat, such as deserts and adjacent mountain slopes. This is a perennial herb growing a small, hairy stem from a caudex. The leaves form a patch or rosette around the caudex, each up to 6 centimeters long and round, oval, diamond, or spoonlike in shape. The inflorescence is an erect or mostly upright raceme of bright yellow mustardlike flowers. The fruit is a hairy capsule under a centimeter long suspended on a short, often curvy pedicel.

<i>Physaria pruinosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria pruinosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Pagosa Springs bladderpod and frosty bladderpod. It is native to Colorado and New Mexico in the United States.

<i>Physaria thamnophila</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria thamnophila is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Zapata bladderpod. It is native to Texas in the United States, where it is known from Zapata and Starr Counties. The plant is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is federally listed as an endangered species.

<i>Physaria tumulosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria tumulosa is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Kodachrome bladderpod. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from Kane County. There is only one known population of this plant made up of scattered occurrences totalling about 20,000 individuals, all within the Kodachrome Basin. The plant is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is federally listed as an endangered species. It was previously treated as a subspecies of Physaria hitchcockii.

Physaria navajoensis, the Navajo twinpod or Navajo bladderpod, is a plant species native the US states of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. It is known from only one county in Arizona (Apache), one in Utah (Kane) and two counties in New Mexico. Much of the plant's range is on land of the Navajo Nation. The plant occurs in open, sunny locations at elevations of 2200–2400 m.

<i>Physaria ludoviciana</i> Species of flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae

Physaria ludoviciana is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family Brassicaceae, with the common names of bladder pod, silver bladderpod, louisiana bladderpod, and foothill bladderpod. It used to be Lesquerella ludoviciana which is now a synonym.

References

  1. 1 2 3 NatureServe (2023). "Physaria obcordata". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  2. Rollins, R. C. (1983). Studies in the Cruciferae of western North America. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. 64(4) 491-501
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 USFWS. Dudley Bluffs bladderpod and Dudley Bluffs twinpod Five-year Review. June 2008.
  4. 1 2 Physaria obcordata. Center for Plant Conservation.
  5. Physaria obcordata. Flora of North America.