Carrichtera annua

Wards weed

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Wards weed is a naturalized annual found in the Central Coast and Southern California coastal regions in disturbed areas at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces cream to pale yellow flowers with dark purple or brown veins, spoon-shaped and 6.5 to 8 millimeters long. Growing with erect to decumbent stems 20 to 45 centimeters tall that are generally branched and covered in simple, reflexed hairs, it has a distinctive growth pattern. Its leaves are pinnately divided with 3 to 6 pairs of lateral lobes, featuring ultimate segments 0.5 to 1.5 millimeters wide and linear to oblong in shape. The fruit is a unique reflexed silicle with a lower segment that is widely ovoid and stiff-hairy, and an upper segment that is flattened with inward-curved margins.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: CCo, SCo

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