General:
Annual herb from a slender taproot; stems usually single, erect, 10-50 cm tall, branched above, short-hairy.

Leaves:
Basal leaves soon deciduous; stem leaves 3-10 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, entire to saw-toothed or pinnately cut with toothed segments, reduced upwards, entire to lobed, not clasping, lower sometimes shallowly pinnately-cut, upper unstalked.

Flowers:
Inflorescence ofnumerous, elongate racemes; flower stalks slightly ascending, 2-4 mm long, slightly flattened on lower surfaces, usually hairy on upper surfaces; petals lacking, rarely vestigial, white, to 1 mm; sepals about 1 mm long.

Fruits:
Silicles, round to short egg-shaped, 3-3.5 by 2.5-3 mm long, tips slightly winged, abruptly curved into obtuse tee at the tips, shallowly slightly notched, glabrous to short-hairy; beaks lacking.

Notes:
Four, sometimes difficult to distinguish, varieties occur in BC.

1. Silicles averaging 2.5 mm long, glabrous; flower stalks slightly flattened................. var. densiflorum

1. Silicles averaging 3 mm long, glabrous or short-hairy; flower stalks conspicuously flattened.

2. Silicles glabrous................ var. macrocarpum Mulligan2. Silicles short-hairy.

3. Silicles short-hairy on both surfaces..................... var. pubicarpum (A. Nelson) Thell.

3. Silicles short-hairy only on the margins.................... var. elongatum (Rydb.) Thell.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia