18 



Lesquerella sp. novum I 

 Undescribed Bladderpod #1 



A. Description 



1. General description: This undescribed Lesquerella is a 

 small, low growing perennial in the mustard family 



( Brassicaceae ) . The leaves are mostly in a basal rosette 

 and are shaped like spoons, with a broadened blade and a 

 narrowed petiole. The stem leaves are smaller and sessile. 

 The foliage is covered with short, appressed, forked hairs 

 which give the leaves a grayish cast. The flowers are borne 

 on stems which hug the ground, several on each stem. The 

 flowers are typical of the family, with 4 green sepals, 4 

 bright yellow petals, 6 stamens, and a single pistil. The 

 mature fruit is a silique (a fruit with two chambers 

 separated by a membranous partition) which is not much 

 longer than wide and is flattened at right angles to the 

 plane of the partition. A photographic slide of the plant 

 is attached to the end of this report. 



2. Technical description: not yet available 



3. Diagnostic characters: This taxon resembles Lesquerella 

 carinata to which it keys out in Dorn (1984). The two taxa 

 have technical differences in their fruits (Heidel 1993), 

 and Lesquerella carinata is known in Montana only from a 

 small area in the vicinity of Bearmouth in the Garnet Range 

 in Granite County (Vanderhorst 1995c). The taxonomy of this 

 group of Lesquerella with obcompressed fruits is not yet 

 resolved in Montana; the number of taxa and the affinity of 

 individual populations, especially across distances and 

 habitat types is still uncertain. The plants found in this 

 study area closely resemble those found in similar habitat 

 near Bannack, and are thus assumed to be the same taxon; 

 this has been referred to as Lesquerella sp. novum I on 

 recent BLM, U.S. Forest Service Region 1, and Montana 

 Natural Heritage Program lists. Lesquerella alpina is the 

 only species of the genus which is known to be sympatric 

 with this undescribed taxon; the former is distinguished by 

 its erect flowering stems, narrow leaves without petioles, 

 and fruits which are not flattened (Heidel 1993, Dorn 1984). 



2. Current legal or other formal status 



1 . Federal 



a. Bureau of Land Management: proposed Watch status (USDI 



Bureau of Land Management 1993) 



b. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service: none 



