Leaves generally basal and cauline, alternate, generally simple; stipules 0
Inflorescence: generally raceme
Flower bisexual; sepals 4, free; petals (0)4, free, generally white or yellow, often clawed; stamens generally (2,4)6, generally 4 long, 2 short; ovary 1, superior, chambers generally 2, septum membranous, connecting 2 parietal placentas, style 1, stigma simple or 2-lobed
Fruit: generally capsule ("silique") with 2 deciduous valves, sometimes breaking transversely or indehiscent
Seeds 1–many per chamber
Genera in family: 300+ genera, 3000+ species: worldwide, especially cool regions; some cultivated for food (especially Brassica, Raphanus ) and ornamental
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Capparaceae [Rodman et al. 1993 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 80:686–699; Rollins 1993 Cruciferae of Continental North America. Stanford Univ Press]
Family description, key to genera by Robert A. Price.
RORIPPA
YELLOW or WATER CRESS
Annual, biennial, perennial herb; hairs simple, rarely sac-like
Stems 1–many, prostrate to erect, branched or not, often from center of basal rosette, rooting at nodes or not
Leaves: basal, lower cauline sessile or short-petioled, entire to pinnately compound; cauline reduced upward
Inflorescence terminal and lateral
Flower generally small; petals 0 or obovate to narrowly spoon-shaped, pale to bright yellow or white
Fruit linear to round, plump; valves 2 or 4(6); pedicel ascending to recurved, slender, generally with 2 minute glands at base; style 0 or prominent, persistent
Seeds 10–200, (1)2 rows per chamber, dense, generally plump; wing 0; embryonic root at edges of both cotyledons
Species in genus: ± 75 species: worldwide
Etymology: (Old Saxon: for these, perhaps other crucifers)
Reference: [Stuckey 1972 Sida 4:277–340]
| Native |
R. curvipes Greene
Annual, rarely ± short-lived perennial herb, generally ± glabrous
Stem 1–5 dm, branched, often from near base; hairs often below, ± sparse
Leaves: basal ± entire to deeply pinnately lobed, rarely partly ± 1-pinnate, generally petioled; cauline 0 or 4–8 cm, 5–15 mm wide, oblong, obovate, or oblanceolate, clasping stem, entire to ± pinnately lobed
Flower: petals ascending, oblong to ± tongue-shaped, yellow
Fruit straight to upcurved, generally narrowed near middle, smooth, glabrous; pedicel 2–5 mm; style 0.5–1 mm
Seed ± reniform, finely papillate
Ecology: Wet sites
Elevation: < 2300 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, East of Sierra Nevada
Distribution outside California: N.America
| Native |
var. truncata (Jeps.) Rollins
Plant ± decumbent to erect
Flower: petals 1–1.5 mm, ± = sepals
Fruit 3–6(8) mm, 2–3.5 X longer than wide, oblong; tip ± truncate to widely obtuse; pedicel spreading to ascending
Ecology: Wet streambanks, pond margins, mud flats
Elevation: < 2300 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: to Canada, Texas, Mexico
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