Lepidium draba

Heart-podded hoary cress, Heart-Podded Hoary Cress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Heart-podded hoary cress is a naturalized perennial herb found in the California Floristic Province and Great Basin in disturbed areas, saline soils, pastures, and fields at elevations below 3,300 meters. Flowering from April to August, this invasive plant produces small white flowers in delicate clusters with petals 3 to 4 millimeters long. Growing with densely branched stems 20 to 65 centimeters tall, it spreads through rhizomes and can form extensive patches in disturbed landscapes. Its leaves vary from obovate to spoon-shaped, with basal leaves early-deciduous and mid-stem leaves ranging from 3 to 15 centimeters long, often clasping the stem with dentate or entire margins. The distinctive heart-shaped fruits are 2.5 to 3.7 millimeters wide, featuring net-veined valves and a flat, obtuse tip.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, saline soils, pastures, fields

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: < 3300 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, GB

California counties: San Luis Obispo, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, Lassen, San Mateo, Ventura, Kern, San Benito, Siskiyou, Monterey, Santa Clara, Solano, Santa Cruz, Marin, Orange, Inyo, San Francisco, Sacramento, Yolo, Nevada, Stanislaus, Humboldt, Napa, Kings, El Dorado, Fresno, Modoc, Colusa, Alameda, San Diego, Sierra, Plumas, Yuba

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