Thelypodium laciniatum
Encyclopedia
Thelypodium laciniatum is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family
known by the common name cutleaf thelypody. It is native to western North America, particularly the Great Basin
and surrounding plateau and foothill habitat, where it grows in sagebrush
, scrub and rocky hillsides. It is a biennial herb producing many erect stems, sometimes exceeding one meter in height. The stems are hairless, solid, and often waxy in texture. The thick green basal leaves have blades divided into several lance-shaped lobes or segments; leaves higher on the plant are smaller and less divided. The large inflorescence
is a dense, spikelike raceme
of mustardlike flowers with whitish or pale lavender petals. The fruit is a narrow, cylindrical silique
up to 10 to 14 centimeters long. In fruit the raceme is covered in the siliques, which curve or stick straight out like whiskers.
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae, a medium sized and economically important family of flowering plants , are informally known as the mustards, mustard flowers, the crucifers or the cabbage family....
known by the common name cutleaf thelypody. It is native to western North America, particularly the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
and surrounding plateau and foothill habitat, where it grows in sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
, scrub and rocky hillsides. It is a biennial herb producing many erect stems, sometimes exceeding one meter in height. The stems are hairless, solid, and often waxy in texture. The thick green basal leaves have blades divided into several lance-shaped lobes or segments; leaves higher on the plant are smaller and less divided. The large inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a dense, spikelike raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of mustardlike flowers with whitish or pale lavender petals. The fruit is a narrow, cylindrical silique
Silique
A silique or siliqua is a fruit of 2 fused carpels with the length being more than three times the width. The outer walls of the ovary usually separate when ripe, leaving a persistent partition...
up to 10 to 14 centimeters long. In fruit the raceme is covered in the siliques, which curve or stick straight out like whiskers.