Erysimum inconspicuum (Small-Flowered Prairie-Rocket) - photos and description
Pods with stalks less than 1/4 as long as the pods.
General: Erect, slender, seldom branching, perennial with greyish-green foliage. Stems are rough hairy with appressed hairs.
Flowers: Flowers yellow, growing in terminal racemes. We measured a flower at 8 mm diameter. Pods erect, we measured a pod at 3 cm long.
Leaves: Leaves alternate, stalked toward stem bottom, stalkless above. Leaves linear to oblanceolate. We measured a leaf mid-stem at 2 cm long by 3 mm wide. Leaves are rough hairy with appressed hairs, leaves are catchy.
Fruit: Pods erect, we measured a pod at 3 cm long, stalks less than 1/4 as long as the pod.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 50 cm tall, we measured plants to 61 cm tall.
Habitat: Dry, sandy prairie.
Abundance: Common.
Origin: Native.
Similar species: Might be confused with Erysimum capitatum, however that plant has flowers to 2 cm diameter, while Erysimum inconspicuum has flowers 6 to 8 mm diameter (Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants).
Might also be confused with Erysimum cheiranthoides, however that plant has pods with stalks about half as long as the pods, while Erysimum inconspicuum has pods with stalks less than 1/4 as long as the pods (Budd's Flora).
When and where photographed: Photos taken June 11th, prairie pasture about 125 km west of Regina, SK, June 22nd, prairie hillside, west block Grasslands National Park, about 350 km southeast of Regina, SK, June 24th, grassland about 125 west of Regina, SK, and June 26th, grassland, Parklands, about 40 km east of our home in Regina, SK.