General: Biennial (occasionally perennial) from a taproot and a simple stem-base; stems stiff, erect, angled, branched, (10) 20-60 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves pinnately lobed, long-stalked, less than 12 cm long, with 1-5 pairs of lateral lobes, terminal lobe largest, egg-shaped and entire or irregularly toothed; stalks and sometimes leaflets long-fringed or sparsely short-hairy; lowermost stem leaves with 2-10 pairs of lateral lobes, upper pinnately cleft with the terminal lobe the largest, often clasping the stems.
Flowers: In single and terminal racemes or more often in compound, reduced racemes in lower leaf axils; flower stalks not stout, less than 1 mm thick, 2-3 mm long; petals pale yellow, broadly spoon-shaped, 3-5 mm long; sepals pale yellow-green, about 2 mm long.
Fruits: Erect to spreading-ascending siliques, (1.5) 2.5-5 cm long, straight; styles 0.5-1.5 mm long, not beaklike; seeds in 1 row, finely pitted, about 1.5 mm long.
Moist streambanks, meadows and forests in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common along the coast, less frequent elsewhere in BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF, and S to MN, NH, CO, AZ and CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
