Bog yellowcress is a native mustard of muddy, wet ground, found across most of the U.S. and Canada. It grows on shorelines, in wet ditches, and along pond edges, and bears tiny yellow four-petaled flowers and short, plump seedpods. It also goes by common yellowcress.
Appearance
- Appearance
- An upright plant 1–3 ft (30–100 cm) tall. Its appearance varies a lot from place to place.
- Growth form
- Usually an annual or , sometimes living longer.
- Leaves
- Leaves are 2½–8 in (6–20 cm) long and coarsely toothed. Lower leaves are deeply lobed with a large lobe at the tip; upper leaves are smaller and less divided.
- Flowers
- Tiny yellow flowers less than ¼ in (about 2–4 mm) across, with four spoon-shaped petals, in clusters that keep lengthening as they bloom.
- Flowering time
- May–September (Minnesota)
- Fruit
- Short, plump, smooth pods about ⅛–⅜ in (3–10 mm) long, held out on slender stalks. Each holds roughly 20–90 tiny seeds.
Look-alikes
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Wet ditches
- Shorelines
- Mud flats
- Marshes
- Wet meadows
- Range
- Native across most of the U.S. and Canada. It also grows wild through much of Europe and Asia.
- Preferred conditions
- Prefers wet ground in full sun to part shade. It quickly moves onto bare, damp mud along rivers, lakes, and ponds.
- Flowering
Flowers May–Sep
Flowers May–Sep
Name and classification
- About the name
- Plants with hairy stems and leaf undersides have been treated as a hairy form of this species (var. hispida), but some current classifications list hispid yellowcress as its own species. Taller, stouter plants are sometimes called subspecies fernaldiana.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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