Hoary Cress, Whitetop
Cardaria draba (L.) Desv.
Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)
▲▼young shoots emerging from creeping roots in spring
▲▼flowering plants
▲▼flowering plants
▲▼flowering plants
▲▼flowers
▲▼flowers
▲ inflated, heart-shaped fruit pods (siliques)
▲▼ stems and leaves
Hoary Cress, Whitetop:
· 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