Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

YELLOW ROCKET

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Barbarea vulgaris W.T. Aiton

Douglas County, Kansas

Perennial or occasionally biennial

Height: 8-36 inches

Family: Brassicaceae - Mustard Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June

Also Called:

Winter cress.

Stems:

Erect, branched above, ridged, mostly glabrous.

Leaves:

Alternate, oblanceolate, dark green; basal leaves deeply pinnately-divided, 1 to 6 inches long, glossy, clasping; terminal lobe rounded; lateral lobes 1-4 pairs, smaller; upper leaves progressively smaller, more coarsely toothed than lobed, usually sessile.

Inflorescences:

Racemes, terminal on branches; flowers crowded together.

Flowers:

To 3/8 inch across; sepals 4, lanceolate to elliptic, ascending, about 1/10 inch long; petals 4, bright yellow, narrowly egg-shaped, 1/4 to 1/3 inch long; stamens usually 6, outer 2 shorter than inner 4.

Fruits:

Pod, linear, 1 to 2 inches long, roundish in cross-section; erect, ascending or spreading; style persistent; beak slender; seeds several, broadly oval to oblong, grayish, wrinkled.

Habitat:

Roadsides, fallow and cultivated fields, wet meadows, pastures, moist woods, stream banks, gardens, and waste areas.

Distribution:

East 2/5 of Kansas.

Origin:

Native of Eurasia. Introduced in colonial times as a garden plant used for salads. Now naturalized.

Toxicity:

Thought to cause digestive disturbances in livestock.

Uses:

The young leaves and stems can be cooked and are said to have a flavor similar to dandelions. However, consumption has been associated with kidney malfunction. Native Americans used a tea of the leaves to treat coughs and scurvy. Ground foraging birds eat the seeds.

Yellow rocket flowers