Diverse-leaf yellowcress is a small yellow-flowered mustard native to East and South Asia, where it is a common weed of damp fields and riverbanks. In the US it is a rarely recorded introduced plant. It is also called variableleaf yellowcress.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A hairless perennial herb usually under 2 ft (60 cm) tall, branching from the base. US records sometimes treat it as an annual.
- Leaves
- Lower leaves are up to about 6 in (15 cm) long and either cut into lobes or irregularly toothed; upper leaves are smaller and simpler. The varied leaf shapes give the plant its name.
- Flowers
- Bright yellow four-petaled flowers about 1/6 in (4–5 mm) across, in clusters at the stem tips.
- Fruit
- Slender pods about 1/2–3/4 in (11–21 mm) long, often curving upward.
Look-alikes
Bog yellowcressRorippa palustris
Bog yellowcress has smaller flowers (about 1/8 in, 3 mm) and short pods about 1/4 in (6 mm) long. Diverse-leaf yellowcress has longer, slender pods of 1/2–3/4 in (11–21 mm).
Why they get mixed upBoth are yellow-flowered yellowcresses of wet ground, and bog yellowcress is common across North America.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Crop fields
- Riverbanks
- Disturbed ground
- Range
- Native from Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan to India and the Philippines. In the US it is an uncommon introduced plant; Alabama's first record came from along the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County in 2018.
- Preferred conditions
- Prefers moist spots such as field edges, riversides, and damp grassland.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.