''Physaria congesta''''Lesquerella congesta''.
ITIS.''Physaria congesta''.
Flora of North America. (

syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

''Lesquerella congesta'')''Lesquerella congesta''.
Center for Plant Conservation.''Lesquerella congesta''.
The Nature Conservancy. is a rare species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

mustard family Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The le ...

known by the common name Dudley Bluffs bladderpod. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to western

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in the United States, where it is known only from seven occurrences in Rio Blanco County. It is federally listed as a threatened species. This is a petite

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

taking the form of a small, compact mound no more than about 2 centimeters tall. A short stem arises from a hairy

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...

that remains buried in the soil. This is attached to a long, slender taproot. The leaves are linear or lance-shaped and measure up to 1.5 centimeters in length. They are coated in hairs, giving them a gray or silver color. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

of flowers. It is so short it generally lies within the densely packed leaves. The flowers have bright yellow petals each about half a centimeter long. The fruit is a silique about the same length. The flowers are pollinated by the

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

'' Andrena hicksii'' and other '' Andrena'' species.USFWS
Dudley Bluffs Bladderpod and Dudley Bluffs Twinpod 5-Year Review.
June 2008. This plant grows on barren outcrops of rock in the notoriously petroleum-rich

Piceance Basin The Piceance Basin is a geologic structural basin in northwestern Colorado, in the United States. It includes geologic formations from Cambrian to Holocene in age, but the thickest section is made up of rocks from the Cretaceous Period. The basi ...

. The substrate is pale white in color, and the tiny, gray-colored plant is nearly invisible until it blooms in yellow flowers. The flat, open ground in the area is a section of the

Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sediments are deposited in very fine ...

exposed when rivers and creeks cut through the rock. The rock covers a vast network of oil shale. About 90% of the plant's habitat is on land overseen by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

. The BLM is establishing a plan to balance the needs of the plant and other organisms in the habitat with the proposed oil and gas exploration in the immediate area. The rock is also mined for deposits of

nahcolite Nahcolite is a soft, colourless or white carbonate mineral with the composition of sodium bicarbonate ( Na H C O3) also called thermokalite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system. Nahcolite was first described in 1928 for an occurrence in a ...

and

dawsonite Dawsonite is a mineral composed of sodium aluminium carbonate hydroxide, chemical formula NaAlCO3(OH)2. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system. It is not mined for ore. It was discovered in 1874 during the construction of the Redpath ...

, two types of sodium minerals. There are about 10,000 individual plants estimated to exist, all in an area of 88 square kilometers in one Colorado county. The plant is directly threatened by petroleum exploration activities. The effects of exploration on the species are not yet clear. While it is threatened, the species in general currently has a high probability of survival and does not yet meet the criteria for uplisting to

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

status. File:Physaria congesta plant in ring dudley bluffs bladderpod.jpg, Flowering specimen with ring for scale File:Physaria congesta flowers flowering.jpg,

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

detail File:Physaria congesta bluffs bladderpod plant.jpg, Flowering bladderpod juxtaposed to dime

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Physaria congesta''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6531401 congesta Flora of Colorado Endemic flora of the United States Rio Blanco County, Colorado Critically endangered flora of the United States Plants described in 1984