Leaves generally basal and cauline, alternate, generally simple; stipules 0
Inflorescence: generally raceme
Flower bisexual; sepals 4, free; petals (0)4, free, generally white or yellow, often clawed; stamens generally (2,4)6, generally 4 long, 2 short; ovary 1, superior, chambers generally 2, septum membranous, connecting 2 parietal placentas, style 1, stigma simple or 2-lobed
Fruit: generally capsule ("silique") with 2 deciduous valves, sometimes breaking transversely or indehiscent
Seeds 1–many per chamber
Genera in family: 300+ genera, 3000+ species: worldwide, especially cool regions; some cultivated for food (especially Brassica, Raphanus ) and ornamental
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Capparaceae [Rodman et al. 1993 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 80:686–699; Rollins 1993 Cruciferae of Continental North America. Stanford Univ Press]
Family description, key to genera by Robert A. Price.
DRABA
Robert A. Price
Annual to perennial herb, often cushion- or mat-forming; hairs often branched
Leaves basal and sometimes cauline, entire or shallowly toothed
Flower: sepal bases equal; petals < 10 mm, yellow or white, claw and limb generally distinct
Fruit < 30 mm, generally lanceolate to ovate, generally flat parallel to septum, less often partially inflated, sometimes twisted or wavy
Seeds: 2 rows per chamber; wing generally 0
Species in genus: 350+ species: n hemisphere, mtns of South America
Etymology: (Greek: acrid)
Reference: [Rollins & Price 1988 Aliso 12:17–27]
| Native |
D. albertina Greene
Biennial to short-lived perennial herb
Stems 1–several from base, 1–40 cm, often branched from leaf axils; hairs near base, coarse, simple and forked
Leaves: basal 3–40 mm, oblanceolate to obovate, entire to minutely dentate; lower surface hairs forked and cross-shaped, upper surface hairs 0 or simple and forked; cauline 0–7
Inflorescence < 35-flowered, generally glabrous
Flower: petals 2–3 mm, yellow
Fruit 4–20 mm, ± linear to narrowly ovate; hairs 0, rarely short; style < 0.2 mm
Seeds < 40, 0.7–1 mm; wings 0
Chromosomes: 2n=24
Ecology: Moist meadows, streambanks
Elevation: > 1500 m.
Bioregional distribution: High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, San Gabriel Mountains, Modoc Plateau, n East of Sierra Nevada, White and Inyo Mountains
Distribution outside California: w US, w Canada
Flowering time: Jun–Aug
Synonyms: D. stenoloba Ledeb. vars. nana (O.E. Schulz) C.L. Hitchc. and ramosa C.L. Hitchc. (branched draba)
Small, leafless, high-elevation plants often confused with D. crassifolia Graham (especially var. nevadensis C.L. Hitchc., dolomite draba) of n&w North America outside CA, sparsely hairy, leaf hairs not cross-shaped.
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