PLANT NOVELTIES IN LEPIDIUM (CRUCIFERAE) AND ARTEMISIA (COMPOSITAE) FROM THE UINTA BASIN, UTAH

4 Pages·1995·2 MB·English

by  Stanley L Welsh

GreatBasinNaturalist55(4), © 1995,pp.359-362
PLANT NOVELTIES IN LEPIDIUM (CRUCIFERAE) AND
ARTEMISIA (COMPOSITAE) FROM THE UINTA BASIN, UTAH
Stanley L. Welsh* and SherelGoodrich^
Abstr.'VCT.—Named as new tiixa are Lepidiwn hiiberi Welsh & Goodrich, sp. nov., andArtemisia nova A. Nels. var.
duchesnicola Welsh & Goodrich, var no\'. The taxa are provided with diagnoses and descriptions, and their relation-
ships,provenance,andhahitatsarediscussed.
Keyicords: Lepidiumhuberi,Artemisianovavar. duchesnicola,newfaxa, Utah, UintaBasin.
Notedhistoric pioneer Utah botanist Marcus trace elements, and other features important
Eugene Jones (1852-1934) has been quoted, to plant growth. Plants have become adapted
perhaps apocryphally, as saying that he felt to the peculiarities of salt content or its lack,
sorry for all future generations of botanists to textural differences, and to the peculiarities
because so few plants remained for them to ofwater relationships. During the past several
describe and name. Whedier die quote is tnae millions ofyears formations havebeen exposed
or not, the generations beyond Jones' time and cutby erosional processes, and during that
have not suffered from a shortage of areas of same period floras have developed. Varying
botanical inquiiy, including the discoveiy and attributes of the resulting erosional surfaces
naming ofscores ofplants new to science, and have allowed the evolution ofpresent floras of
there are indications that future generations of the basin. Some Uinta Basin plant endemics
botanists beyond the 1990s will continue to are directly correlated to geological formations
find and describe novelties. The flora is not and are aligned along the strike offormations
yet fully understood. as though planted mechanicallyby some gigan-
The Uinta Basin harbors numerous narrow ticdrill. In odiers diecoiTclation is more subtle,
endemics in many genera of plants, due in but most endemics show some affinity to par-
some part to the availabilit>' ofunique geologi- ticularformations.
cal substrates. Geomorphological processes The present paper deals with two more
have, through time, exposed geological strata narrowlyrestricted Uinta Basin endemics. Bodi
ofvaiying and diverse composition around the ofthem have been known in collections since
periphery of the basin and onto the slopes of the 1980s.
mountains and plateaus that form its borders. Lepidiumhuheri
The basin proper is the result ofuplift during Welsh & Goodrich, sp. nov.
and following the Laramide Revolution, which
resulted in a topographically low area south of Similis Lepidio inontano var. ohjssioides in
the Uinta Mountains and north ofthe Tavaputs habitu generali amplitudine sedfoliis praecipue
Plateau. The exposed stratavaiy in age fiom the caulinis (foliis basalibus nullis vel evolutis
present into the remote Precambrian epoch. debiliter) in basim lignosam et in siliculam
Revealed are mud and siltstones, shales, sand- amplitudinam difiPert.
stones, limestones, and quartzites ofenormous Plants subshrubs, the stems woody at the
total thickness, each displayed in sequence base, ashyorbrownish, 1-2.5 dmlong; branches
like pages from a book. Some of the strata, puberulent throughout, green, 15-53 cm long;
especially the shales and mud and siltstones, leaves all cauline, the eophylls reduced, prin-
weather into fine-textured, salt-laden sub- cipal lower leaves 2-3.5 cm long, 8-20 mm
strates, others into sand and gravel, and still wide, pinnatifid, 5- to 7-lobed, the lobes often
others into platy shales. Each ofthe substrates again lobed or dentate, smaller and entire
presents a different array of texture, salinity. upwards; panicles 3-10 (14) cm long, branches
^DepartnientofBotanyandLifeScienceMuseum.BrigliamYoungUniversih;Pro\o,UT84602.
^U.S.ForestService,AshlevNationalForest,.3.5.5N.VernalAvenue.Vernal,UT84078.
359
360 Great Basin Naturalist [Volume55
corymboscly arranged; pedicels 2-4.5 nnii a
mm
long, puberulent; sepals glabrous, 1.4-1.9
long, oval, green, the margin white; petals
mm mm
white, 2.3-2.6 long, 1.8-2.2 wide,
mm
shallowlv incised, the stvlc 0.4-0.8 long
'
(Fig. 1).
Suffrutices, caules lignei ad basin, cinerei
vel brunneis, 1-2.5 dm long; rami puberulenti dm
onuiino, virides, 15-53 cm longi; folia totus
caulina, eoph\His reductis, principalibus infer-
nis foliis 2-3.5 cm longis et 8-20 nun latis,
pinnatifidis, 5- to 7-lobatis, lobi plerumque
lobati vel dentati, parvascens et integra sur-
sum; paniculae 3-10 (14) cm longae, ramis
mm
corymbose dispositis; pedicelli 2-4.5
mm
longi, puberulenti; sepala glabra, 1.4-1.9
longa, ovales, virides, marginibus latis albis;
mm mm
petala alba 2.3-2.6 long, unquibus 1
longis; staminalis filamenti glabra; siliculae
mm
glabrae, ovatae vel ovales, ca 2.3-2.6 lon-
mm
gae, 1.8-2.2 latae, incisura vadosa, styli
mm
0.4-0.8 longi.
Type:—USA: Utah: Uintah County, grow-
ing under ledges of Park City (Phosphoria)
Formation, above Weber Sandstone, T2S,
R21E, S15 NEl/4, Big Brush Creek Gorge,
Uinta Mountains, adjacent to black sage-
brush/grass community, west exposure, at
2179 m elev., A. Huber 2400, 18 August 1994
(Holotype BRY; isotypes to be distributed).
Additional collections: USA: Utah: Uintah
County, 8 km N of Maeser, at base of Taylor
Mountain, S. Goodrich, 1548, 13 August 1973;
do, TIS, R20E, S30, Ashley Creek, drainage N
ofSims Peak, 30 km N ofVernal, at 2959 m, D.
Atwood 9128a, 30 July 1982; do, T2S, R21E,
S34, SW/SW, N side ofRed Mts., ca 16 km N
ofVernal, at ca 2320 m, Tuhy 2693, 31 July
J.
1986; T2S, R21E, S14 NW/SW, Big Brush
Creek Gorge, A. Huber 858, 13 June 1994; do,
A. Huber 880, 14 June 1994; do, T3S, R21E,
S34, SW/SW, N slope ofRed Mountain, ca 6.5
km NW ofSteinaker Resei-voir, A. Huber & S.
Goodrich 2390, 18 Aug. 1994; do, T3S, R21E, Fig. 1. Habitsketch(a)andsilick-(b)oiLcpidiu)n huhch
S3 NEl/4, Red Mt., ca 6 km NW ofSteinaker Welsh&Goodrich.
Reservoir, A. Huber & S. Goodrich, 2392, 18
Aug. 1994; do, T2S, R21E, S34 SW/SE, Red Hamilton), at BRY. Its main difference is the
Mt., ca 6 km NW of Steinaker Reservoir, A. merely toothed unlobed leaves. Pinnately
Huber & S. Goodrich 2393, 18 August 1994 lobed leaves are featured prominently in the
(all BRY, with numerous duplicates to be dis- material from the range of the species in
tributed). Uintah Count)'.
There is a collection, apparently of this, The following key will serve to distinguish
taken from Moffat Countv, CO (R. C. & K. W. L. hiiheri from other members ofthe L. )non-
Rollins 8387, offcountv roads 13 and 789, S of tanuiu complex.
1995] LepidiumANDArtemisia, Uinta Basin 361
1. Plants slightK ifat all woocK' above the base, from the Shinarump Member of the Chinle,
mm
bloinegn,ni2a.l1-t2o.p5emremnniwaildeherbs;silicles2.8-4.1 Park City, and Weber Sandstone, all on the
south-plunging flank of the Uinta Mountains.
— L. inontanum sens.lat.
Plants wood}' well abo\'e the base, long-lived It occurs in black sagebrush, mountain brush,
perennialsiibshrubs;siliclesvarious 2 ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and spruce-
2(1). pSlialinctlsesof4t.h5e-M7.o5ha\m'medleosnegr,tr5e.g2i-o6n.5o,fSobWovUattaeh; fircommunities at2225 to 2960 m elevation.
— andsouthward mm mmL.fronontii Artemisianova A. Nels. var. dtichesnicola
Silicles 2.3-2.6 long, 1.8-2.2 wide; Welsh & Goodrich, var nov.
plantsmontane,inUintahCounty, Uttih
L. hiiheri Persimilis Artemisia nova A. Nels. in mag-
nitudine et habitu sed in folius pilis albis
This taxon, adefinite subshrub, differs from dense non-glanduliferis et in floribus gener-
L. montanum Nutt. sens. lat. in about the same aliter 5 (raro 4) et bracteis plus numerosis
degree and manner that the Mohavaean
(10-20, nee 8-12) differt (Fig. 2).
desert L. frcinontii Wats, differs from that Shrubs, 1-3 (5) dm tall, main branches
species complex, i.e., in degree ofwoodiness spreading, vegetative stems 1-3 dm long
and in size ofthe silicles, which in L.freviontii
are on the large size for that complex and in L. d(rmarelloynmgo;rel)e;avfelsowdeirmiongrpshtiecm,s 0m.a3i-nl2yc1m.5-l3on(g4,)
hiiberi are smaller. Members ofthe montanum
those ofold stems shallowly to deeply 3- to 5-
complex are widely distributed in the
lobed or -toothed, lobes or teeth rounded,
American West and occur in an array ofmor-
cuneate basally, appressed white canescent
phological races, many ofwhich are geograph-
and not punctate; inflorescence narrowly pan-
ically or edaphically correlated. Hitchcock iculate, seldom more than 3 cm wide; involu-
(1936) treated 13 infraspecific taxa, some of mm mm
which are now regarded at specific rank. The cres 3.1-5.8 long, 1.4-3.4 wide, cylin-
phase of the L. montanum complex that is dric to narrowly campanulate; bracts 10-20,
apparently most closely allied to montane L.
huheri is the extralimital van ahjssoides (Gray)
Jones, to which early collections ofthis novel-
ty were assigned. That variety, which ranges
widely from Colorado to New Mexico,
Arizona, and Texas, sometimes has a branching
subligneus caudex, but is seldom if ever sub-
shrubby, and lacks the other morphological
features ofL. huheri. The spatially and eleva-
tionally isolated var. spathulatum (Robinson)
C. L. Hitchc, also an ally, is rather common in
Uintah County andelsewhere in eastern Utah.
It is a tall plant, apparently biennial or short-
lived perennial, with a single stem from the
base, the caudexnotwoody ormuchbranched.
It is most common at low elevations along
drainages, growing with sagebrush. Most mm
phases within the montanum complex have
been regarded at specific rank in the past, and
there is more than marginaljustification for so
treating them in the future. Justification for
regarding L. huheri at specific rank involves
its combination of morphological characters,
i.e., long-lived perennial habit, ligneus base,
deeply lobed lower cauline leaves, and small
silicles.
Lepidium huheri grows in sand or silty Fig.2. DrawingoffloralheadofArtemisianovaA. Nels.
sands derived from formations of various age \'ai-.dtichesnicolaWelsh&cGoodrich.
362 Great Basin Naturalist [Volume 55
white canescent, the margin hyahne; flowers 5 that species var. duschesnicola can be distin-
(rare!)' 4), all perfect; receptacle glabrous; ach- guished by its relatively shorter flowering
enes glabrous. stems, uniformly three-lobed vegetative
Type.—USA: Utah: Uintah County, T5S leaves, much larger number of involucral
R20E S5 NEl/4, 16 km W ofVemal, 1710 m bracts (10-20, not 4-8), and uniformly 5-flow-
elevation, desert shrub community, on heavy, ered heads (not4-9).
reddish clay ofthe Duchesne Ri\(m- Formation, The following key, modified from Welsh et
S. Goodrich 23215, 17 Sept. 1990 (holotype al. (1993) will aid in identification ofthis taxon
BRY; isotypes tobe distributed)—. and its nearallies.
Additional specimens. USA: Utah:
NW
Uintah Count>', T5S R19E 1/4 S2, along 1. Inflorescenceopen-paniculate,commonlymore
Hw^ 121, 3 km E of Lapoint, 1740 m eleva- than 2 cm wide; plants often more than 5 dm
tion, Neese et al. 11013, 19 Sept. 1981; do, — tIanlfllorescence narroAw.lytripdaennitcautlaatvea,rcwiojmom)noinnlgeynsis
T5S R19E S2, 3 km NE of Lapoint, along less than 2 cm wide; plants usually less than
Hwy 121, 1665 m, on red silty clay of the 5dmtall 2
Duchesne River Formation, S. Goodrich 2(1). Plantscommonly3-5dmtall(sometimestaller);
2U2S2i2M5,, 05.6Sekptm. 1S9E86;ofdTor,idTeIllN, R1I72E0Sm2,6 hSeEalv/y4 — biPrnlavacontltsuscarcvaoelmrbamrgoaicnntlgsym4o-3r8edmthatanll8or less; inAv.olaurchruaslcula3
clay of the Duchesne River Formation, S. 3(2). Vestureofplantssilverx'white;involucralbracts
Goodrich 23212, 17 Sept. 1990; do, T5S R19E — 10-20 A. novavarduchesnicola
S2 NVVl/4, 3 km E of Lapoint, 1720 m eleva- Vesture ofplants mainly lead-gi^ay; involucral
bracts8-12 A. novavarnova
tion, on heavy, reddish clay of the Duchesne
R1i99v0e;rdFoo,rmTa3tSioRn,19SE. GSo3o5drEilc/h22S3L2M1,4,a1b7ouStep1t..4 The var duchesnicola is the dominant plant,
km N of Hwy 121 between Lapoint and often in association with other desert shrubs,
on reddish clay soils of the Duchesne River
Maeserm, redclays ofDuchesne River Fomiation, Formation, for which the variety is named,
1800 elevation, S. Goodrich 23255, 27 Sept. from about 15 km west ofVernal to Tridell. It
1990 (all BRY, with numerous duplicates to be occurs from about 1700 to 1800 m elevation
distributed).
on low clay uplands in a position ecologically
This taxon differs from typical A. nova A.
betweenA. tridentata var wyorningensis (Beetle
Nels. in the densely white pubescent outer in- & Young) Welsh of desert drainages and A.
volucralbracts and generally denserpubescence nova var. nova, which grows in rocky sub-
ofleaves and flowering stalks, and in the lack strates formed by ancient stream pediments.
of conspicuous glandular dots on leaves.
Suggested as the origin ofthis entity is poten-
Leaves are not the green to lead-gray color tial hybridization ofA. nova and A. tridentata
typical ofmost populations of van nova, most
var wyomingensis. Although differing only in
ofwhich also have glandular dots. There are, minor ways, the plants are continuous and
however, a few known populations ofvar nova
uniform over rather large expanses of the
that lack glandular dots, l>ut they possess the Duchesne River Formation, and they are wor-
lead-gray to green color. In var. duchesnicola,
thyoftaxonomic recognition.
thedensewhite, orsilveiy, pubescenceofleaves
that lack glands is diagnostic. Additionally, References
mature involucres ofvar. duchesnicola are less
lustrous, the number of involucral bracts is Hitchcock,C. L. 1936.ThegenusLepidhnn intheUnited
greater on the average (8-12 in var. nova, States. Madrono3:265-320.
10-20 in var. chichesnicola), and the flower Welsh, S. L., N. D. Atwood, S. Goodrich, and L. C.
number is almost uniformly 5 (not 3-8 as in HMiucsceiuNSm.,1B9r93i.ghAamUtaYloiufnlgoraU.ni2xnedrseidtivt;ioPnr.oLviof,eUSTc.ie9n8c6e
var. nova). Practically all other features ofthe
pp.
variety proposed herein are similar to var.
nova. Received22March1995
The proposed new variety would key in Accepted26June1995
Welsh et al. (1993) toA. arhuscula Nutt. From