Arabidopsis lyrata (Lyre-Leaved Rock Cress) - photos and description
Basal leaves in
above photo
Basal leaves in
above photo
Stem leaf in
above photo
General: Biennial or perennial plant with an upright growth habit, and a basal rosette of leaves. The Flora of Alberta lists the plant as glabrous or with simple or forked hairs. The plants we observed were glabrous.
Flowers: Flowers are racemose, white in colour, we measured flowers to 6 mm diameter.
Fruit: Pods are flat in profile, ascending, the pod highlighted in photo above was 37 mm long and 1 mm wide.
Leaves: Basal leaves lyrate or dentate, basal leaf measured at 2.5 cm long by 6 mm wide. Stem leaves alternate, linear, taper slightly at their base. Stem leaf highlighted in photo above was 22 mm long and 2 mm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 30 cm, we measured plants to 30 cm tall.
Habitat: Open sandy woods.
Abundance: Listed as common in Checklist of Vascular Plants of Saskatchewan.
Origin: Native.
Synonym: Listed in many of the reference books we use as Arabis lyrata.
When and where photographed: The above photos were taken June 15th, sandy jack pine woods south of Hudson Bay, SK, about 400 km north of Regina, SK, and July 9th, sandy clearing in woods, Meadow Lake provincial park, about 600 km northwest of our home in Regina, SK.