Annual or biennial herb with a taproot to 1 m tall Stem: upright, branched, and hairy. Leaves: alternate, pinnately divided (the lower leaves), lance-shaped to oblong- reverse egg-shaped, hairy beneath. The middle stem leaves are generally winged toward the lobed base, looking more or less stalkless. Flowers: in branched clusters (racemes). Sepals four, ascending. Petals four, yellow, 1.5 - 2.5 mm long, about as long as sepals, bases narrowed. Stamens six. Fruit: a pod (silique), 2.5 - 9 mm long, more or less round in cross-section.
Similar species: No information at this time.
Flowering: late May to mid-August
Habitat and ecology: Local in wet, often calcareous ground, usually near ponds.
Occurence in the Chicago region: native
Etymology: Rorippa possibly comes from the Latin roro, meaning "to be moist," and ripa, meaning riverbank. Palustris means "marsh-loving." Hispida means bristly.
Author: The Morton Arboretum
From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam
Infrequent mostly throughout the northern part of the state although it was collected by Coulter in Jefferson County. It has the habitat of the preceding species [Rorippa sessiliflora] but grows in much wetter places.