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Key to Physaria

Brassicaceae

Physaria

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(c) Breeden, Cooper - CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG
1 Cauline leaves expanded at the base, usually auriculate
1 Cauline leaves cuneate or petiolate at the base, not auriculate.
  2 Plants from a slightly to strongly woody caudex, perennial herbs.
    3 Fruits (1-) 2-3 mm long, slightly pubescent on the exterior; petals 3.5-6.5 (-7.5) mm long, bright yellow; ovules 4 per ovary (flower)
    3 Fruits (2-) 3-10 mm long, glabrous (or papillose) on the exterior; petals 4.5-15 mm long, variously white, pale yellow, bright yellow, or orange; ovules 8-32 (-40) per ovary (flower).
      4 Hairs of the stems with rays fused (webbed) > 1/2 their lengths
      4 Hairs of the stems with rays not fused or only fused basally.
        5 Petals yellow, yellow-orange, or orange (or mixtures of those colors), 4.5-12 (-14) mm long.
          6 Hairs of the stems asymmetrical, with a deep notch on one side, often with a U-shped gap between 2 of the rays
          6 Hairs of the stems symmetrical, not notched.
             7 Stem leaves ascending, appressed, and strongly overlapping; ovules 16-32 per ovary (flower)
             7 Stem leaves spreading, not overlapping; ovules 8-16 per ovary (flower)
  2 Plants from a fine taproot, annual or biennial herbs (or sometimes perennial in P. gordonii).
               8 Petals pale yellow, yellow, orange-yellow, or orange.
                 9 Stem leaves similar in shape to the basal leaves.
                     11 Pedicels straight or slightly curved in fruit; silicle stipes (gynophores) 0-2 mm long.
                       12 Stems to 7 dm tall; blade margins of stem leaves usually deeply dentate, rarely repand; silicle stipes <0.5 mm long; silicles globose or subglobose, 3-6 mm, the base rounded
                       12 Stems usually < 3 dm; cauline leaves: blade margins of stem leaves frequently repand, occasionally dentate; silicle stipes 1-2 mm long, slender; silicles obpyriform to narrowly obovoid, (5-) 6-9 mm long, the base truncate
                 9 Stem leaves different in shape than the basal leaves.
                          13 Pedicels straight, curved upwards, or sigmoid (S-shaped) in fruit.
                            14 Ovules 8-16 (-20) per ovary (flower); petals bright yellow to orange.