Spring Whitlow Grass, Spring Draba

Draba verna L.

Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

▲ mature, flowering plant

▲ basal rosette

▲ flowers

▲ fruit

Spring Whitlow Grass, Whitlow Grass:  (not in Weeds of the Midwest; not in Weeds of the Great Plains; not in Weeds of the Northeast)

·         small, winter annual weed with greenish-purple basal rosette of hairy, lance-shaped leaves, usually without teeth

·         flowering stems grows 1-6” tall

·         inflorescence of a slender purplish-brown stalk topped by racemes on upright branches with tiny white flowers with four deeply-notched petals

·         seed pods are small, oval, flattened about 1/8 inch long, green to brownish-purple

·         common in cultivated crops, warm-season turf, non-crop areas

·         similar to mouse-ear cress, but mouse-ear cress has longer, slender fruit, and spring whitlow grass has oval, flattened fruit, and raised bumps on the leaves where the hairs attach