Shepherds Purse
[Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medicus]
Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)
mature plant ▲
flowers and fruit ▲
Shepherd’s Purse: (pp. 200-201 in Weeds of the Great Plains; pp. 172-173, Weeds of the Northeast)
· a cool-season annual, with deeply lobed leaves in a basal rosette
· inflorescence grows 1-1.5' tall, with small white flowers followed by heart-shaped seed pods; can flower almost year-round
· seeds very long-lived in the soil
· common in cool-season annual crops, gardens, landscapes, roadsides, almost any disturbed site around the world