Plant Name
Scientific Name: Lesquerella gordonii
Synonym: Lesquerella gordoni
Common Names: Gordon's Bladderpod, Bladderpod Mustard
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual, Biennial, Perennial
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland. In rainy years, this spring wildflower can carpet the ground with yellow flowers.
Flower Color: Yellow
Flowering Season: Winter (late), Spring
Height: Up to 16 inches (41 cm) tall
Description: The flowers have 4 rounded petals. The flowers are followed by round, green to reddish, pea-sized seedpods with slender, pointed tips. The leaves are grayish green and covered with fuzzy hair. The basal leaves are spoon-shaped and may be lobed. The stem leaves are narrowly lanceolate. The stems are hairy and erect or partly decumbent (erect at the stem tips).
The similar Fendler's Bladderpod (Lesquerella fendleri) is a prostrate, low-growing plant, while Moapa bladderpod (Lesquerella tenella) has yellow to orange flowers, rounded basal leaves, and linear to egg-shaped stem leaves.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Dilleniidae
Order: Capparales
Family: Brassicaceae – Mustard family
Genus: Lesquerella S. Watson – bladderpod
Species: Lesquerella gordonii (A. Gray) S. Watson – Gordon's bladderpod
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