Rorippa curvipes

Bluntleaf yellow cress

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bluntleaf yellow cress is a native perennial found in California's Foothill Provinces and Southeastern deserts in muddy shores, streambanks, and meadows at elevations of 100 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces small yellow flowers with delicate oblanceolate petals. Growing with erect or ascending stems 10 to 42 centimeters tall that are stiff-hairy near the base, it develops multiple stems from its base. Its leaves are oblong to obovate, ranging from 3.5 to 10 centimeters long, with bases that can be lobed or clasping and edges that are pinnately lobed or toothed. The plant produces small curved fruits 2 to 8 millimeters long with numerous tiny reniform seeds.

Habitat: Muddy shores, streambanks, meadows, seepage areas

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: 100-3500 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, SNE

California counties: Mono, San Bernardino, Riverside, Fresno, Tulare, Mendocino, Placer, Sonoma, Marin, Los Angeles, Inyo, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Siskiyou, Lassen, Contra Costa, Solano, San Diego, Alpine, Trinity

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