In Pursuit Of Boechera

Day 283: Following up on yesterday's post regarding a species of Boechera infected by a fungal pathogen, Team Biota was able to put to rest one bit of the mystery: the affected plants are B. lyallii. We hiked the Silver Forest Trail, searching for both healthy and unhealthy plants to examine. Fewer infected plants were found along the trail than on the roadside 200' higher, a hint that late-lying snow (that piled up by plowing) may have contributed to fungal growth. Note that I say "may have contributed." This is by no means conclusive. I merely put it out there as food for thought. Our current Plant Ecologist specializes in plant pathogens. We will be turning our evidence over to her to pursue if she sees fit.

Boechera Lyallii, Lyall's Rockcress

Day 259: As many of you know, I was invited to be a contributor to the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium photo database some years ago, and add images frequently. In addition, I refer to Burke when I am working on identifying plants because contributors who have a background in botany know what features of a plant's morphology are definitive and often show those parts in close-up (or in extreme cases, under a microscope). The Burke is very good on keeping up with taxonomic changes, perhaps a bit too good in this case. When I looked up Lyall's Rockcress Tuesday night, it was filed under Arabis lyalli. I labelled my photo as such and the following morning, I sent a batch of images in to Burke. Last night while I was reviewing the material for my next few posts, I thought I might have mis-typed "lyalli" because the final i (it should have two) was missing. I went to Burke to check...and couldn't find the plant under Arabis! Puzzled, I immediately began hunting down synonyms and discovered that it had been reclassified to Boechera lyallii in the space of a mere three days (yes, I edited my submission). As I said to Joe when I updated the information I'd sent him, "Give me a big rock and the nearest taxonomist." I'm ready to whop somebody upside the head.

So, Boechera it is, Boechera lyallii with two i's. It is a very hardy little plant with a preference for dry soils (amazing how some of these tiny marvels survive bitterly cold winters and heavy snowpack). It is most frequently found in alpine/subalpine areas, but also may occur in dry lowland meadows from British Columbia to California, and east to the Rocky Mountains. The flowers may be purple as they are in this image, although some specimens may be lighter and almost pink. The lower (basal) leaves are somewhat fleshy. In addition to its former binomial, it has carried a number of different common names including Murray's Rockcress (how did Murray get in there, I wonder?) or Slender Rockcress. Let's give botanist David Lyall his due and stick with Lyall's Rockcress, please.