E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Alyssum alyssoides (L.) L.
pale alyssum (pale madwort)
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Virginia Skilton  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #12105)

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Distribution of Alyssum alyssoides
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Species Information

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General:
Annual or biennial herb from a slender taproot; stems erect or ascending with several ascending branches near the base, 10-25 (40) cm tall, the shoots grey-hairy with starlike hairs.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves narrowly oblanceolate, entire, 5-25 mm long, grey with starlike down.
Flowers:
Inflorescene elongate; flower stalks spreading, 2-5 mm long; flowers about 3 mm in diameter; petals cream or white, linear, 3-4 mm long; sepals about 2 mm long, soft-hairy and with starlike hairs, persistent in fruit.
Fruits:
Silicles, 3-4 mm long, almost circular (oval), starlike hairy, strongly flattened near the edges but bulging in the middle, 2 seeds in each chamber; styles up to 0.5 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry roadsides and waste places in the steppe and montane zones; frequent in SC and SE BC, rare on S. Vancouver Island; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Alyssum alyssoides

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)
Site Information
 Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum
Elevation (metres) 579 875 1480
Slope Gradient (%) 4 38 90
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W] 		89 205 330
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		0 2 5
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class		 C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:		 38
Modal BEC Zone Class
 PP
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BG(2), ICH(2), IDF(16), MS(1), PP(17)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Alyssum calycinum L.
Clypeola alyssoides L.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Brassicaceae
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
 International Plant Names Index
 Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
 Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Photo Sources

UBC Herbarium Scanned Collection Record
 Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
 Google Image Search
 Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
 General Botanical References for BC
Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-09 3:47:35 AM ]
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