DAME'S ROCKET
File Size: 93 KB
 
Hesperis matronalis  L.
Clay County, Kansas
Biennial
Height: 20-40 inches
Family: Brassicaceae - Mustard Family
Flowering Period:   May, June
Stems: Erect, often branched above, pubescent.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, sessile or short-stalked, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 1 to 6 inches long, 1/4 to 1 inch wide, pubescent; margins toothed; tips pointed; upper leaves reduced.
Inflorescences: Racemes, several to many-flowered, terminal.
Flowers: Fragrant; sepals 4, erect; corollas 3/4 to 1 inch across, pinkish purple or bluish purple; petals 4.
Fruits: Pods, cylindric, slender, 2 to 6 inches long; seeds many, angular, reddish brown.
Habitat: Abandoned farmsteads, roadsides, waste areas, thickets, and open woods.
Distribution: Throughout except southwest corner of Kansas.
Forage Value: Ground-foraging birds eat the seeds.
Comments: Dame's rocket is an escaped ornamental often planted by early settlers and now widely naturalized.

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Dame's rocket
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Dame's rocket inflorescence
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