General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems 10-60 cm tall, simple or branched above, sparsely hairy, multibranched, often stalked-glandular above.

Leaves:
Basal and lower stem leaves once or twice pinnately lobed, linear to egg-shaped, hairy, 3-10 cm long; upper stem leaves once pinnate to almost entire, generally glabrous, rarely glandular, 1-10 cm long.

Flowers:
Racemes elongate; flower stalks 6-12 mm long, at about 45 degrees to axis of inflorescence; petals yellow, erect, 2-3 mm long, exceeding sepals by about 0.5 mm; sepals 1.5-2.5 mm long.

Fruits:
Siliques, somewhat thicker towards the tips, rounded above, about as long as or shorter than the stalks, 7-12 (15) mm long; styles short, not beaklike; seeds 1-20 per chamber, partially in 2 rows, about 0.8 mm long.

Notes:
Two highly variable, and often intergrading, varieties occur in our region.

1. Siliques 4-12 mm long, usually nearly equal to or longer than the stalks....................... ssp. intermedia (Rydb.) Detl.

1. Siliques 10-20 mm long, usually shorter than the stalks.................. ssp. filipes (A. Gray) Detl.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Descurainia brachycarpa (Richardson) O.E. Schulz
Descurainia pinnata var. brachycarpa (Richardson) Fernald
Sisymbrium brachycarpum Richardson
Sophia brachycarpa (Richardson) Rydb.