Rorippa columbiae

Columbia yellow cress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Columbia yellow cress is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in the Modoc Plateau in streambanks, lake or pond margins, meadows, and wet fields at elevations of 1,000 to 1,800 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces small yellow flowers with delicate oblanceolate petals 2.7 to 4.2 millimeters long. Growing with soft-hairy stems 10 to 32 centimeters tall that are erect or sometimes decumbent and branched toward the tip, it spreads through creeping roots. Its mid-stem leaves are uniquely shaped, ranging from oblanceolate to oblong, with wavy or pinnately lobed edges and lateral lobes that often extend to the midrib. The fruit is a small, densely hairy silicle 2.5 to 5.5 millimeters long, containing 24 to 40 tiny ovoid-spheric seeds.

Habitat: Streambanks, lake or pond margins, meadows, wet fields

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1000-1800 m

Bioregions: MP

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