The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

northern tansy-mustard

fine-leaf tansy-mustard, fixweed, flixweed, flixweed tansymustard, herb sophia, not much flower, tansy mustard

Habit Annuals or biennials; eglandular or glandular distally; glabrate to moderately pubescent, trichomes dendritic, sometimes mixed with simple ones. Annuals; eglandular; sparsely to densely pubescent, sometimes glabrous distally, trichomes dendritic.
Stems

erect, unbranched or sometimes branched distally, (0.5–)1.5–11(–18) dm.

erect, unbranched or branched distally, (1–)2–7(–10) dm.

Basal leaves

petiole 0.5–5 cm;

blade pinnate or, sometimes, 2-pinnate, broadly oblanceolate to ovate in outline, 2.5–11.4(–15.2) cm, lateral lobes lanceolate, (to 10 × 4 mm), margins incised.

petiole 0.1–2(–3) cm;

blade 2- or 3-pinnate, ovate or oblong to obovate in outline, to 15 cm, lateral lobes linear or oblong, (to 10 × 2 mm), margins entire.

Cauline leaves

sessile or shortly petiolate;

blade smaller distally, distal lobes often narrower, surfaces often glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

sessile or shortly petiolate;

blade smaller distally, distal lobes often narrower, surfaces often glabrous.

Racemes

elongated or not in fruit, (flowers overtopped by developing fruits).

considerably elongated in fruit.

Flowers

sepals erect, yellowish, oblong, 1.6–2.7 mm, glabrous;

petals narrowly oblanceolate, 2–2.5 × 0.3–0.6 mm;

median filaments 2.5–3.5 mm;

anthers 0.3–0.4 mm.

sepals erect to ascending, yellowish, oblong, 1.8–2.8 mm, glabrate to sparsely pubescent;

petals narrowly oblanceolate, 2–3 × 0.4–0.6 mm;

median filaments 2–3 mm;

anthers 0.3–0.4 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

divaricate to ascending, (often recurved in age), slender, (3–)4–9(–13) mm.

divaricate to ascending, straight, (5–)8–15(–20) mm.

Fruits

erect to widely spreading, narrowly linear, slightly torulose, (9–)14–30(–34) × 0.6–1.1 mm, (usually terete, rarely slightly flattened, often curved inward);

valves each with obscure midvein;

septum not veined;

ovules 30–62 per ovary;

style obsolete, 0.07–0.3 mm, glabrous.

divaricate-ascending to erect, narrowly linear, torulose, (12–)15–27(–30) × 0.5–0.8(–1) mm, (straight or curved upward);

valves each with distinct midvein;

septum with a broad central longitudinal band appearing as 2 or 3 veins;

ovules 20–48 per ovary;

style obsolete, 0.05–0.2 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

uniseriate, light brown, narrowly oblong, 1–1.5 × 0.3–0.5 mm.

uniseriate, reddish brown, oblong, 0.7–1.3 × 0.3–0.6 mm.

2n

= 14.

= 28.

Descurainia sophioides

Descurainia sophia

Phenology Flowering Jun–Sep. Flowering Mar–Jul.
Habitat Open meadows, eroded peat, roadsides, disturbed and waste sites, rocky outcrops, mining dumps, gravelly grounds, stream banks, gullies Roadsides, waste places, disturbed sites, railroad embankments, hillsides, mountain slopes, canyon bottoms, stream banks, fields, lawns, pastures, deserts, sagebrush and pinyon-juniper communities
Elevation 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) 0-3000 m (0-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; BC; MB; NT; NU; YT; Asia (Russian Far East, Siberia)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NM; NV; NY; OK; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, Central America, South America, South Africa, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Deviant chromosome counts (e.g., 2n = 12, 14, 20, 38; see R. C. Rollins 1993, N. H. Holmgren 2005b, S. I. Warwick and I. A. Al-Shehbaz 2006) are most certainly erroneous, and the species appears to be exclusively tetraploid based on x = 7.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 7, p. 529. FNA vol. 7, p. 528.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Descurainieae > Descurainia Brassicaceae > tribe Descurainieae > Descurainia
Sibling taxa
D. adenophora, D. brevisiliqua, D. californica, D. incana, D. incisa, D. kenheilii, D. longepedicellata, D. nelsonii, D. obtusa, D. paradisa, D. pinnata, D. sophia, D. torulosa
D. adenophora, D. brevisiliqua, D. californica, D. incana, D. incisa, D. kenheilii, D. longepedicellata, D. nelsonii, D. obtusa, D. paradisa, D. pinnata, D. sophioides, D. torulosa
Synonyms Sisymbrium sophioides, Hesperis arctica, Sisymbrium arcticum, Sophia sophioides Sisymbrium sophia, Hesperis sophia, Sisymbrium parviflorum, Sophia parviflora
Name authority (Fischer ex Hooker) O. E. Schulz: in H. G. A. Engler, Pflanzenr. 86[IV,105]: 316. (1924) (Linnaeus) Webb ex Prantl: in H. G. A. Engler and K. Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 55(III,2): 192. (1891)
Web links