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.
GUILLENIA
Roy E. Buck
Annual, glabrous to ± hairy below
Stem often hollow, ± glaucous
Leaves: basal rosetted, often withering in flower, generally ± oblanceolate, entire to deeply cut, petioles < blades; upper leaves reduced
Inflorescence longer in fruit; bracts generally 0
Flower: sepals pouched at base or not, greenish or not; petals ± linear to obovate; anthers coiled or ± curved when open; style generally ± tapered, stigma small, entire or shallowly 2-lobed
Fruit ascending to reflexed, ± cylindric; stalk-like base < 1 mm, = body width
Seed ± oblong, brownish or yellowish; wing 0
Species in genus: 3 species: w North America
Etymology: (Father C. Guillen, Jesuit missionary, Mexico, born 1677)
| Native |
G. flavescens (Hook.) Greene
Leaves: basal blades 5–22 cm, (ob)lanceolate, wavy-dentate to deeply cut; cauline generally not clasping, ± entire to cut
Flower: sepals spreading to erect, 5–11 mm, ± pouched at base, generally cream or pale yellow (to purple); petals erect, 8–15 mm, whitish, purple-veined or not, blade channeled, ± wavy-margined, flared to tip or not, claw often > blade, width = or > blade width at junction; style 2–3.5 mm
Fruit ascending to reflexed, 3–9 cm, ± straight
Seed ± 1.5 mm, brownish
Chromosomes: n=14
Ecology: Dry, exposed slopes, often on serpentine
Elevation: 80–750 m.
Bioregional distribution: s Inner North Coast Ranges, Sacramento Valley (Montezuma Hills), se San Francisco Bay Area, Inner South Coast Ranges
Synonyms: Thelypodium f. (Hook.) S. WatsonHorticultural information: TRY.
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