Hoary Cress, Whitetop

[Cardaria draba (L.) Desv.]

Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

young shoots emerging from creeping roots in spring ▲

flowering plants ▲

flowers ▲

Hoary Cress, Whitetop:  (pp. 202-203 in Weeds of the Great Plains—not in Weeds of the Northeast)

·         a creeping perennial weed that produces creeping roots

·         produces colonies of mostly unbranched stems

·         leaves are lanceolate, with toothed margins; base of leaves wrap partially around stem

·         produces clusters of terminal racemes with showy white flowers in mid to late spring

·         silique is a small, inflated, heart-shaped capsule

·         has irritating sap, if livestock graze it

·         can be very difficult to control, due to lack of susceptibility to many herbicides and its underground structures

·         more common north or west of here, but could potentially become established here

·         two other similar creeping perennial species—lens-podded hoary cress, and hairy whitetop more common further west—distinguished only by silique shapes