Descurainia nelsonii

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Native

Nelson's tansy mustard is a California native annual found in the Great Basin and Mojave Desert (Calico Mountains) in roadsides, sagebrush scrub, dry washes, and gravelly ground at elevations of 800 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces small yellow flowers on slender stems. Growing 30 to 45 centimeters tall with multiple branching stems, it appears green and sparsely to densely hairy. Its lower leaves are intricately divided with 2 to 5 pairs of lateral lobes, creating a delicate, feathery appearance with segments that are entire or slightly toothed. The plant produces linear seed pods 3 to 8 millimeters long with prominent midveins and straight, ascending pedicels.

Habitat: Roadsides, sagebrush scrub, dry washes, silty flats, gravelly ground

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 800-3000 m

Bioregions: GB, DMoj (Calico Mtns), expected elsewhere

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