Boechera

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Boechera

Boechera drummondii

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Brassicales
Family:	Brassicaceae
Genus:	Boechera

Species

See text.

Boechera (rockcress) is a genus of the family Brassicaceae, subfamily Brassicoideae. It was named after the Danish botanist Tyge Wittrock Böcher (1909-1983), who was known for his research in alpine plants, including the mustard genus Draba. According to recent molecular based studies Boechera is sister to the genus Arabidopsis which also includes the widely known model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Until recently, members of this genus were included in the genus Arabis, but have been separated from that genus based on recent genetic and cytological data. Unlike the genus Arabis (x=8) Boechera has a base chromosome number of x=7. Many taxa are triploid. Boechera is an exclusively North American genus, most diverse in the western United States but its distribution range also includes Greenland. The genus is poorly known, and species within are difficult to separate morphologically though some clearly distinct species are known.

Most members of the genus are perennial plants with pubescent leaves with stellate trichomes, narrow curving fruits, and small white to purple flowers in elongated racemes. Relationships within the genus are unclear, and some eastern North American species, including Boechera laevigata, may belong to a clade distinct from the rest of the genus.

A very interesting feature of the genus is asexual reproduction, a process known as apomixis.