Arabadopsis thaliana

Mouse-ear Cress

Arabadopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.

Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

▲ basal rosettes

▲ ▼ flowering plants

▲ flowers and fruit

▲ flowering plant

Mouse-ear Cress: (not in Weeds of the Midwest; not in Weeds of the Great Plains; not in Weeds of the Northeast)

small, winter annual weed with greenish-purple basal rosette of hairy, lance-shaped leaves, often with some teeth on the margins
flowering stems grows 3-2" tall
inflorescence of terminal racemes on upright branches with tiny white, four-petalled flowers
seed pods are slender, flattened but often rounded on the bottom side, somewhat curved without a long pointed tip; usually reddish purple to dark green about 0.125-1" long
common in cultivated crops, warm-season turf, non-crop areas
similar to hairy spring whitlow grass, but mouse-ear cress has longer, slender fruit, and spring whitlow grass has oval, flattened fruit, and raised bumps on the leaves where the hairs attach