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BRASSICACEAE

MUSTARD FAMILY

Reed C. Rollins, except as specified

Annual to subshrub
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.

STREPTANTHUS

JEWELFLOWER

Roy E. Buck, Dean W. Taylor, and Arthur R. Kruckeberg

Annual to perennial herb, glabrous to bristly, generally ± glaucous
Leaves ± entire to pinnately compound; basal generally rosetted, generally ± petioled; cauline linear to (ob)ovate, often clasping
Inflorescence generally ± open; bracts generally 0
Flower biradial or bilateral; calyx generally ± urn-shaped, sepals erect, generally not green, bases ± pouch-like, generally keeled; petals generally exserted, blade generally narrower than claw, ± channeled, margins ± wavy, generally ± scarious; stamens generally in 3 free pairs; style 0 or short, stigma generally ± entire, blunt
Fruit long, generally strongly compressed parallel to septum
Seeds generally compressed, generally ± winged
Species in genus: ± 40 species: sw US, n Mex
Etymology: (Greek: twisted flower, from wavy-margined petals)
Reference: [Dolan & LaPré 1989 Madroño 36:33–40; Kruckeberg & Morrison 1983 Madroño 30:230–244]
Caulanthus sometimes including here. Calluses on leaf margins of some mimic pierid butterfly eggs, reducing larval herbivory. Variable, complex; needs study.

Native

S. morrisonii F.W. Hoffm.

Biennial 5–12 dm, simple or branched above
Leaves: basal 3–5 cm, oblanceolate, fleshy, petioled, toothed above middle, ± purple-mottled to uniformly purple below; cauline lanceolate to ovate or spoon-shaped, gradually reduced upwards
Flower: calyx biradial; sepals 5–7 mm, pale yellow to pale purple; petals 6–10 mm, ± white to light yellow or ± brownish, lower sometimes ± darker, upper purple-veined or not; longest filament pair fused, their anthers sterile, 2nd longest fused basally, recurved
Fruit reflexed to erect, 4–8 cm, straight or ± curved, flat, ± narrowed between seeds
Seed: wing at 1 end
Chromosomes: 2n=28
Ecology: Serpentine barrens, chaparral, cypress/knobcone-pine woodlands, often among shrubs
Elevation: 150–1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: c&s North Coast Ranges, c Outer South Coast Ranges?. Variable, infraspecific taxa need detailed study: plants from sw NCoRI with leaves purple-mottled above, sepals yellowish and nearly glabrous, upper cauline leaves 2–4 X longer than wide have been called subsp. elatus F.W. Hoffm. (Three peaks jewelflower); plants from s NCoRO with leaves purple-mottled above, sepals purple, densely hairy have been called subsp. hirtiflorus F.W. Hoffm. (Dorr's cabin jewelflower); plants from c NCoRI with leaves purple-mottled above, sepals yellowish and nearly glabrous, upper cauline leaves 1–2 X longer than wide have been called subsp. kruckebergii R.W. Dolan & LaPré (Kruckeberg's jewelflower); plants from s NCoRO with leaves unmottled above, sepals yellowish and nearly glabrous have been called subsp. morrisonii (Morrison's jewelflower); plants from c SCoRO (Burro Creek, Monterey Co.) apparently represent a related, undescribed taxon
Horticultural information: In cultivation.

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