Common Whitlow Grass Erophila verna

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Family Brassicaceae Cruciferae

Description

A small plant, usually under 10 cm tall common and widespread annual of dry, bare places. which is not a grass at all; it's a member of the cabbage family . Flower diameter c 3-6 mm Sepals 6 , 4 long two short.Other features: Pods oval, flattened, becoming translucent after the seeds fall. One of the earliest spring flowers is Whitlow Grass Erophila verna, but it is so small, that it is very easy to miss it. Unless that is there is a lot of it growing in the same place. . Narrow, toothed leaves form a basal rosette, from the centre of which arises leafless flowering stems. White flowers are 3­6 mm across and comprise four deeply notched petals; appear March to May.Called Crucifers because they have four petals, but in the case of Whitlow grass each petal is divided to the base. Basal leaf rossette covered with Y shaped or branched hairs Frequent on gravel paths, in paving cracks and at the foot of walls. Whitlow grass germinates in late autumn and overwinters as a small plant, ready to flower in spring at the earliest opportunity. Flowering March to June.

See also

Whitlow-grass, Glabrous Erophiloe glabrescens
Whitlow-grass, Hoary Draba incana
Whitlow-grass, Yellow Draba aizoides
Whitlow-grass, Wall Draba muralis

Data Table

 

15871 IMAGE (C) 2008 COLIN DUKE

15872xxIMAGE (C) 2007 COLIN DUKE

15868 IMAGE (C) 2008 COLIN DUKE

15869 IMAGE (C) 2008 COLIN DUKE
15873 IMAGE (C) 2008 COLIN DUKE
15876 IMAGE (C) 2008COLIN DUKE
15891 IMAGE (C) 2008 COLIN DUKE