Physaria spp / twinpods

Adjectives: drought tolerant, early spring, exposed, native, nutrient poor soils, rocky

Also known as: bladderpods
Synonym: Lesquerella spp.

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I will start here by saying that the photos in the gallery were taken up behind Cedron Cemetery in very early May. There is an extensive rock outcropping there, many with lichens (so they have been stable for a long time), with sedums and Opuntias and other drought tolerant plants. All are stunted or naturally very small.

However, according to IDFG, there are 8 species of Physaria in Idaho; overall, there are 27. They are native to the Americas. Many are endemic to the west. As far as I can tell, it is extremely difficult to tell which is which, at least if you don’t have the seed pods. Indeed, keying one out without the seedpods is not possible. There are few to no photos identified to species on the web.

The Physarias do have some common characteristics, however. But then, even those are variable. They are, for example, densely hairy, unless a particular individual is not. The leaves are ovate or what I call spatulate – long and thin, tapering to the petiole (the handle of the spatula). The whole plant is a rosette, although the old stems persist so the rosette may not be totally at ground level. They are generally perennial, unless they are annual. They are often prostrate or decumbent, i.e. growing along the ground in patches or clumps.

The thing that I usually look to for plant ID, i.e. the flowers, are as useless as they are for many Brassicaceae/Cruciferae. Basically, they are yellow. There may be differences in the sepal size or color, but there are also a lot of similarities. The ones shown in the gallery have yellowish-greenish sepals, less than half the length of the petals. The flowers are born in loose clusters (cymes).

However, the fruit – the seed pods – are frequently notched so that there are two, “twin” sections.

Much as I have tried various IDs of the plants in the gallery, I can say that I have gotten nowhere. They could be P. didymocarpa. I tried that idea partly because it is the only one featured in Earle and Lundin. But I can’t make it work. I tried P. fendleri, and that seemed to fit, except for the fact that nothing says it is in Idaho. I tried P. obdeltata which came really close, by the eFloras description, but it is rare. Much as that appeals to me, I hesitate. Most of the rest of the names listed by IDFG don’t have photos associated.

If I get any closer this year, and I will definitely look for the pods. I will update this entry.

Sorry. But for now, Physaria is not a bad name.