Barbarea vulgaris

Yellow rocket, Yellow Rocket

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Yellow rocket is a naturalized perennial found in Great Basin regions in disturbed areas, riverbanks, grasslands, and fields at elevations of 1,000 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces bright yellow flowers 6 to 9 millimeters long with four distinct petals. Growing with branched stems 2 to 9 meters tall, it develops an erect structure with glabrous to sparsely hairy foliage. Its basal leaves feature 1 to 3 lateral lobe pairs, with upper cauline leaves displaying coarse dentate edges. The plant produces elongated fruits 1.5 to 3 centimeters long, which remain erect or slightly ascending on the stem.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed areas, riverbanks, grassland, fields

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 1000-3000 m

Bioregions: GB

California counties: Kern, Lake, Mendocino, Modoc, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Fresno, Butte, San Bernardino, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, Napa, Placer, Plumas, Nevada, Alameda, Alpine, Trinity, El Dorado, Solano, Shasta, Mariposa, Inyo, Monterey, Colusa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.