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

Draba verna L.
common draba (common whitlow-grass; spring draba)
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jim Riley  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #23105)

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Distribution of Draba verna
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Species Information

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General:
Annual herb from a slender taproot; stems leafless, 5-20 (25) cm tall, glabrous or hairy with simple and branched hairs near base.
Leaves:
Basal leaves in a rosette, spoon-shaped to oblanceolate, entire to toothed, 1-2.5 cm long, hairs simple, branched or starlike; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers:
Racemes 3- to 20-flowered; petals white, 3-4 mm long, deeply bilobed.
Fruits:
Silicles 3-10 mm long, 1.5-4 mm wide, elliptic to egg-shaped, glabrous; fruiting stalks 2-4 times as long as the silicles; style about 0.1 mm long; seeds 30-60, 0.3-0.5 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry disturbed areas and waste areas in the lowland, montane and steppe zones; locally frequent in SW BC, known from SE Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the adjacent lower mainland, frequent in WC and SC BC; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Draba verna

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) 350 717 1737
Slope Gradient (%) 0 23 73
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W] 		20 180 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		1 2 5
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class		 C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:		 69
Modal BEC Zone Class
 BG
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BG(33), IDF(14), PP(20)

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

Draba praecox Stev.
Draba verna var. aestivalis Lej.
Draba verna var. boerhaavii H.C. Hall
Draba verna var. major Stur
Erophila spathulata A.F. Lang
Erophila verna (L.) Besser
Erophila verna subsp. praecox (Stev.) S.M. Walters
Erophila verna subsp. spathulata (A.F. Lang) S.M. Walters

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: 2024-05-17 11:25:55 PM ]
Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.
© E-Flora BC: An initiative of the Spatial Data Lab, Department of Geography UBC, and the UBC Herbarium.