Thelypodium texanum (Gray Sibara)
Family
BRASSICACEAE
Synonyms
NONE
Common Name
Gray Sibara
Description
Annual, grayish green branching herb, up to 30 cm tall; herbage glabrous throughout and slightly fleshy; leaves 3-7 cm long, 1.5-3.0 cm wide, deeply dissected into lobes; flowers minute; sepals 2 mm long or less; petals 4, white, 3.5 mm long; fruit a long narrow silique 1.5-2.0 mm wide, 2-3 cm long; seeds small, yellow, and narrowly winged. Flowers May and June.
Similar Species
The nearest relative to Sibara grisea is S. runcinata, which does not occur in New Mexico.
Distribution
New Mexico, Chaves, Eddy, and Otero counties; adjacent Texas.
Habitat
In crevices and at the bases of limestone cliffs in interior chaparral and piñon-juniper woodland communities at 1,350-1,800 m (4,500-6,000 ft).
Remarks
It is difficult to know the abundance of this species since it is an annual and grows in extremely remote areas that are very difficult to access.
Dropped in 2013. Synonym of the more widespread Thelypodium texanum. Plants disjunct in NM were misidentified by R.C. Rollins (1993) as Sibara grisea. Ref: Ihsan Al-Shebaz, Flora of North America, Vol.7.
Conservation Considerations
Prevailing land uses of livestock grazing and energy development do not threaten this species.
Important Literature
*New Mexico Native Plants Protection Advisory Committee. 1984. A handbook of rare and endemic plants of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
Information Compiled By
Ken Heil and Joey Herring 1999
For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico