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Content for id "content" Goes HereLucas Land
Early Winter Cress
Barbarea verna
from Nearctica
Alien: Native of Europe.
Identification: Flowers yellow with 4 petals, arranged in clusters. Seed pods erect, elongate, with a short apical beak. Upper leaves elongate and lobed. Basal leaves with an ovate apical third and a series of 4 to 10 pairs of lower lobes. Plant 1 to 2 feet in height.
Distribution: Illinois in the west to Maine in the east, southward to Florida and Mississippi. Also occurs in the Pacific Northwest.
Habitat: Early Winter Cress is a weed found in a variety of disturbed habitats including fields, pastures, empty lots, and stream and river banks.
Flowering period: April to May.
Similar Species: Early Winter Cress can be difficult to separate from Winter Cress. The seed pods of Early Winter Cress are about twice as long as those of Winter Cress. The basal leaves of Early Winter Cress have 4 to10 pairs of side lobes compared to the 1 to 4 pairs found in Winter Cress. Early Winter Cress can be distinguished from species of the genus Brassica by the short apical beak. The beak is long and thin in Brassica species.