Physaria ludoviciana

Silver bladderpod

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Silver bladderpod is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in eastern central Sierra Nevada Mountains, specifically in the Anchorite Hills of Mono County, on sandy and gravelly soils at elevations around 2,150 meters. Flowering from April to August, this plant produces white to yellow flowers with oblanceolate to obovate petals 6.5 to 9.5 millimeters long. Growing with decumbent stems 10 to 35 centimeters tall, it develops a simple or branched caudex. Its leaves are distinctive, with basal and cauline leaves ranging from 1 to 9 centimeters long, oblanceolate to linear in shape, and either entire or slightly dentate. The fruit is nearly spheric or obovoid, 4 to 5.5 millimeters long, covered in fine hairs and containing 8 to 12 flat seeds.

Habitat: Sandy, gravelly soils, pastures, hillsides, limestone outcrops

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: 2150 m

Bioregions: e-c SNE (Anchorite Hills, Mono Co.)

California counties: Mono, Kern

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.