Globe-Podded Hoary Cress

Hairy Whitetop, Globe-Podded Hoary Cress

Cardaria pubescens (C.A. Mey.) Jarmolenko

Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

▲ ▼ flowering plants

▲ ▼ flowering stems and leaves

▲ ▼ flowers and fruit

Globe-Podded Hoary Cress, Hairy Whitetop:

a creeping perennial weed that produces creeping roots
produces colonies of mostly unbranched stems
leaves are lanceolate, with toothed margins; base of leaves wrap partially around stem, and leaves usually have soft hairs covering them
produces clusters of terminal racemes with showy white flowers in mid to late spring
silique is a small, inflated, globe-shaped capsule
has irritating sap, if livestock graze it
can be very difficult to control, due to lack of susceptibility to many herbicides and its underground structures
more common north or west of here, but could potentially become established here
two other similar creeping perennial species---lens-podded hoary cress, and hoary cress are also more common further west--distinguished only by silique shapes