Rorippa sylvestris (L.) Besser
creeping yellow cress (creeping yellowcress)
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
creeping yellow cress (creeping yellowcress)
Brassicaceae (Mustard family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from slender rhizomes, often mat-forming; stems nearly erect to decumbent, 15-60 cm tall, usually branching from base, nearly glabrous.
Leaves:
Basal leaves in rosettes, these disappearing after the first year; stem leaves egg-shaped or oblong-oblanceolate to oblong egg-shaped, 4-10 cm long, deeply lobed to pinnately-cut, the divisions narrow, incised or sharply toothed to entire, slender-stalked.
Flowers:
Racemes numerous, dense and short; flower stalks spreading to ascending, (3) 6-12 mm long; petals yellow, 3-5 mm long; sepals 2-3 mm long, deciduous shortly after anthesis, the outer pair not pouched at base.
Fruits:
Siliques, linear, often curved upward, 1-2 cm long, 1-2 mm wide; beaks 0.5-1 mm long; seeds reddish-brown, 0.6-0.8 mm long, finely honeycombed, not margined.
Illustration
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
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Yellow
Blooming Period:
Indeterminate
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Rorippa sylvestris
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)
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 |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
844 | 700 | 970 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
11 | 0 | 48 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
219 | 180 | 258 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 2 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
5 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
ICH(1), IDF(1), PP(1), SBS(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Lawns, waste places and fields in the lowland and montane zones; frequent on S Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and adjacent mainland, rare eastward and northward; introduced from Europe.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Radicula sylvestris (L.) Druce