Lescur’s bladderpod

Vesicaria lescurii A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 38. 1856; Alyssum lescurii (A. Gray) A. Gray; Lesquerella lescurii (A. Gray) S. Watson

Annuals; hirsute to coarsely pubescent or glabrous, trichomes simple, with branched, smaller ones. Stems erect or decumbent, 1-3 dm. Basal leaves: blade 3-7 cm × 5-20 mm, margins lyrate, deeply lobed (lateral lobes remote), abaxial surface hirsute (trichomes mostly simple), adaxial coarsely pubescent (trichomes simple, with branched, smaller ones). Cauline leaves: blade broadly oblong to ovate, 0.5-2 cm × 3-10 mm, base auriculate to sagittate, sometimes amplexicaul, margins dentate, (surfaces coarsely pubescent, trichomes simple, with branched, smaller ones, often simple ones absent distally). Fruiting pedicels divaricate, nearly straight (not expanded apically), 8-15 mm, densely pubescent (trichomes coarse, branched). Flowers: sepals (yellowish at anthesis), 3-4 × 1.5-2 mm, (outer pair slightly saccate, inner pair flat basally), apex rounded to slightly emarginate, coarsely pubescent; petals yellow, 5-7 × 3.5-4.5 mm, (gradually narrowed to base); filaments dilated basally, (2.5-3.5 mm, glandular tissue continuous, subtending filament base, surrounding attachment point of single stamens). Fruits sessile, orbicular or suborbicular (slightly longer than broad), 4-6 × 3-4 mm, (strongly latiseptate); valves coarsely, densely pubescent outside, trichomes simple, bulbous-based, mixed with branched ones, sparsely pubescent inside, trichomes branched; replum not flattened, (thick, glabrous); septum complete, (dense); ovules 4-8 per ovary; style 1.5-2 mm, glabrous; stigma expanded in dried material, same diameter as style when fresh. Seeds suborbicular (slightly longer than broad), 2-2.8 × 1.5-2 mm. 2n = 16.

Flowering Mar-May. Hillsides, cedar glades, flood plains, fields, pastures; Ala., Ky., Tenn.