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bog yellow cress, common yellow-cress, hispid yellowcress, marsh cress, marsh yellow-cress

Columbia cress, Columbia yellow-cress, Columbia yellowcress cress, Columbian yellowcress

Habit Annuals or, rarely, perennials; (short-lived, terrestrial or of wet habitat, not submerged); usually glabrous, rarely hirsute, (trichomes cylindrical). Perennials; (terrestrial or of wet habitat, not submerged, with creeping roots and adventitious stems); pilose or hirsute.
Stems

(often simple from base), erect, branched distally, (0.5–)1–10(–14) dm, (sometimes hirsute proximally).

suberect or decumbent to prostrate, branched distally, 1–3.2(–4.1) dm, (pilose to hirsute).

Basal leaves

rosulate;

blade [(4–)6–20(–30) cm × 10–50(–80) mm] margins lyrate-pinnatisect, (abaxial surface sometimes hirsute).

absent.

Cauline leaves

petiolate or subsessile;

blade lyrate-pinnatisect, (lateral lobes oblong or ovate when present), (1.5–)2.5–10(–18) cm × (5–)8–25(–30) mm, (lateral lobes smaller than terminal), base auriculate or amplexicaul, margins subentire or irregularly dentate, sinuate, serrate, or crenate, (abaxial surface sometimes hirsute).

shortly petiolate or sessile;

blade oblanceolate to oblong, (lateral lobes oblong to ovate, often reaching midrib), 2.4–5.2 cm × 5–12 mm, base auriculate or not, margins sinuate to pinnatifid or (lateral lobes) entire or dentate, (surfaces pilose).

Racemes

often considerably elongated.

elongated.

Flowers

sepals erect, oblong, 1.5–2.4(–2.6) × 0.5–1 mm;

petals yellow or pale yellow, spatulate, (1.5–)1.8–2.5(–3) × 0.5–1.5(–2) mm;

median filaments 1–2.5 mm;

anthers ovate, 0.3–0.5 mm.

sepals (persistent), ascending, oblong, 2–3.5 × 0.8–1.5 mm, (pilose);

petals yellow, oblanceolate to spatulate, 2.7–4.2 × 0.7–1.7 mm;

median filaments 2–3.5 mm;

anthers ovate, ca. 0.8 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

divaricate or slightly to strongly reflexed, straight or curved, (2.5–)3–10(–14) mm.

ascending, (subappressed to rachis), straight, (3–)4–10(–12) mm, (densely pilose).

Fruits

usually silicles, rarely siliques, often slightly curved, oblong, ellipsoid, or oblong-ovoid, (2.5–)4–10 × (1.5–)1.7–3(–3.5) mm;

ovules 20–90 per ovary;

style 0.2–1(–1.2) mm.

silicles, straight, subglobose to oblong ellipsoid, (1.5–)2.5–5.5(–7) × (1–)1.7–2.8(–3.5) mm;

valves densely pilose;

ovules 24–40 per ovary;

style 0.7–3.2 mm, (pilose).

Seeds

biseriate, brown to yellowish brown, ovoid or subglobose, 0.5–0.7(–0.9) mm (0.4–0.6(–0.7) mm diam.), colliculate.

biseriate, yellowish brown, ovoid-globose, 0.7–0.9 mm, prominently colliculate.

Rorippa palustris

Rorippa columbiae

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Stream banks, ditches, margins of lakes and ponds, meadows, roadsides, gravel bars, wet fields
Elevation 100-1600 m (300-5200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Europe; Asia [Introduced in n Mexico, South America, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Rorippa palustris is a highly variable species with controversial infraspecific taxonomy. B. Jonsell (1968) recognized four subspecies, of which one (subsp. palustris) is cosmopolitan and three are North American. R. L. Stuckey (1972) followed Jonsell but further divided the North American plants into eleven, poorly defined varieties. Division of the species into subspecies based solely on stem height and fruit length is artificial. The variation is continuous in every character, and the recognized infraspecific taxa represent only some of the extremes. Some collections cannot be adequately assigned to a given subspecies or variety, and of all the infraspecific taxa recognized, only two can be consistently separated from each other; they are recognized here as subspecies.

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

Key
1. Stems and abaxial leaf blade surfaces usually glabrous, rarely sparsely pubescent proximally.
subsp. palustris
1. Stems and abaxial leaf blades surfaces often densely hirsute.
subsp. hispida
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 501. FNA vol. 7, p. 499.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Rorippa Brassicaceae > tribe Cardamineae > Rorippa
Sibling taxa
R. alpina, R. amphibia, R. aquatica, R. austriaca, R. barbareifolia, R. calycina, R. columbiae, R. crystallina, R. curvipes, R. curvisiliqua, R. dubia, R. indica, R. microtitis, R. ramosa, R. sessiliflora, R. sinuata, R. sphaerocarpa, R. subumbellata, R. sylvestris, R. tenerrima, R. teres
R. alpina, R. amphibia, R. aquatica, R. austriaca, R. barbareifolia, R. calycina, R. crystallina, R. curvipes, R. curvisiliqua, R. dubia, R. indica, R. microtitis, R. palustris, R. ramosa, R. sessiliflora, R. sinuata, R. sphaerocarpa, R. subumbellata, R. sylvestris, R. tenerrima, R. teres
Subordinate taxa
R. palustris subsp. hispida, R. palustris subsp. palustris
Synonyms Sisymbrium amphibium var. palustre, Brachiolobos palustris, Cardamine palustris, Caroli-Gmelina palustris, Myagrum palustre, Nasturtium palustre, Radicula palustris Nasturtium sinuatum var. columbiae, Nasturtium columbiae, Nasturtium sinuatum var. pubescens, Radicula columbiae, R. calycina var. columbiae, R. sinuata var. pubescens
Name authority (Linnaeus) Besser: Enum. Pl., 27. (1821) (S. Watson) Howell: Fl. N.W. Amer., 40. (1897)
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