Weed Information: Barbarea verna (wintercress)
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Barbarea verna (wintercress)

Family: Brassicaceae

Description

Similar to Barbarea orthoceras but with larger flowers and the basal leaves with 10 - 20 lobes. An escaped salad green, sometimes sold as `Belle Island cress.`

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Yellow
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Axillary racemes
  • Terminal raceme
Number of Petals
  • 4 petals
Petal Separation
  • Completely free to base
Petal Tip
  • Rounded
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers regular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • 6 mm (.24 inch)
  • 7 mm (.28 inch)
  • 8 mm (.32 inch)
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
  • 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
Number of Sepals
  • 4 sepals
Sepal Separation
  • Completely free to base
Sepal Tip
  • Pointed
Flower Sex
  • Bisexual (perfect)
Number of Styles
  • 1 style
Number of Stamens
  • 6 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens NOT attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels united (or one)
Number of Carpels
  • 2 carpels
Ovary Position
  • Superior (hypogynous)
Fruit Type
  • Capsule, 2-celled
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 4.5 cm (1.8 inches)
  • 5.0 cm (2.0 inches)
  • 6.0 cm (2.4 inches)
  • 7.0 cm (2.8 inches)
  • 8.0 cm (3.2 inches)
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 1 mm (.04 inch) or less
  • 2 mm (.08 inch)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • Alternate
Leaf Type
  • Simple (including lobed leaves)
Stipules
  • Lacking
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Pinnate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole absent (leaf sessile)
  • Petiole < 25% total length
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • 1 - 2 cm (.40 - .80 inch)
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.6 - 4.0 inches)
Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)
  • Pinnately lobed
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Lobed
  • Parted
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Acute (cuneate)
  • Acuminate (attenuate)
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Rounded (obtuse)
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Glabrous (NO hairs)
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Herbaceous
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines or Thorns ABSENT
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Annual
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Erect, columnar (narrow)
  • Erect, spherical (bushy)
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
  • 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
  • 4 - 6 dm (1.3 - 2.0 feet)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Seasonally saturated
  • Mesic
Chlorophyll
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Ridged
  • Round
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem leaves greatly reduced
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem unbranched
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Tap Root

US State
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Kentucky
  • Massachusetts
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
  • Indiana
  • Maryland
  • Rhode Island
  • California
  • Montana
  • Oregon
  • Washington
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia
  • Newfoundland
Other
  • District of Columbia
  • St. Pierre and Miquelon

  • Gilkey`s Weeds of the Pacific Northwest, 1980 (ISBN 0-88246-039-0) See page: 149
  • Manual of Ohio Weeds, 1931 Ohio Ag. Exp. Station Bull. # 475, See page: 43
  • Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 230
  • Weeds, A Golden Guide, 1972 ISBN#0-307-24353-2 See page: 63
  • Weeds of Arkansas 1981 (MP 169-5M-3-81) See page: 21
  • Weeds of California and other Western States, 2007 (ISBN 13: 978-1-879906-69-3) See Page: 458
  • Weeds of the Northeast, 1956, Univ. of Delaware Field Manual #1 See species #: 275
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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