Duration: Perennial

General: Perennial, 10-25 cm tall, plants tufted; stems few to several, decumbent, ascending to erect, simple; herbage silvery stellate-pubescent; caudex simple to few branched, clothed in old leaf bases; taprooted.

Leaves: Basal and cauline, alternate, simple, the basal blades obovate to oblanceolate, mostly 3-8 cm long (including the petiole), 1-3 cm wide, cauline blades narrowly oblanceolate and reduced upwards, surfaces stellate- pubescent, prominently veined beneath, margins entire, seldom toothed, apex obtuse to rounded; blades petiolate, the petiole about as long as the blade.

Flowers: Inflorescence a raceme, congested in flower, scarcely elongating in fruit; pedicels straight or slightly curved, sometimes weakly S-curved, spreading-ascending to ascending, 5-17 mm long in fruit; sepals lanceolate, 4.8- 6.2 mm long, yellowish or greenish yellow; petals oblanceolate to spatulate, 6.5-8.5 mm long, weakly differentiated into blade and claw, yellow; flowers April-August.

Fruits: Silicle, bladdery inflated, 10-15 mm long, developing in pairs, the apex with a deep, V-shaped sinus, the base not or only slightly cleft; mature style 2-3 mm long, usually included in the apex sinus; seeds 2-4 per locule.

Ecology: Slopes in pinyon-juniper, ponderosa pine, Gambel oak, sagebrush communities, often in cinders; 1500-2200 m (5000-7300 ft); Apache, Coconino, Graham, Mohave, and Navajo counties; southwestern U.S.

Notes: The Navajo use Physaria newberryi as a snuff to treat inflamed or irritated mucous membranes.

Editor: Springer et al. 2008