Draba reptans (Creeping Whitlow-Grass) - photos and description
Leaves obovate.
Foliage has forked hairs.
Looking straight down on flower.
Looking straight down on flower.
General: Tiny annual with simple stems, or stems branching near the base. Leaves and lower stems bristly with forked hairs. Due to their tiny size, I find these plants are easily overlooked.
Flowers: There are two types of flowers: one type grow in a raceme of tiny white flowers, we measured one of these flowers at 4 mm long and 3 mm diameter; the other type of flowers on lower branches are apetalous.
Fruit: Pods are erect, flat in profile, slightly curved, puberulent, we measured a pod at 7 mm long by 1.5 mm wide.
Leaves: Young plants with a more or less basal rosette of leaves, the basal leaves subopposite, the rosette withers by the time the plant has fruit. Stem leaves 3 or 4, obovate, sessile, alternate. We measured a stem leaf at 10 mm long by 3 mm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 15 cm high, we've measured plants to 6 cm tall.
Habitat: Prairies, dry sandy soil, hillsides.
Abundance: Rare, ranked as an S3 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: The above photos where taken May 2nd and May 12th, small areas of open soil on prairie hillside, south facing slope, Souris River valley, about 200 km southeast of our home in Regina, SK.