BERBERIDACEAE -- Barberry Family - New Mexico Flores

Scientific Name:
Descurainia obtusa
Size:
50 - 100 cm
BRASSICACEAE -- Mustard Family
Description:
Erect annual herb, stems branched. Herbage
whitish with star-shaped hairs. Leaves
alternate, irregularly twice-pinnatifid, the
segments rounded, not forming an acute angle at
the apex. Flowers perfect, on spreading stalks,
in clusters at branch ends, elongating in fruit.
Sepals 4, erect. Petals 4, 2 - 3 mm long, barely
longer than sepals. Stamens 6, 4 equal, 2
shorter. Fruit a linear pod 12 - 20 mm long,
sparsely hairy or almost glabrous, divided into
two compartments by a thin membrane, with 2
rows of seeds in each cell.
151
Common Name:
Tansy mustard
Color:
Light yellow
Notes:
Plants of the genus Descurainia have deeply
incised leaves. In D. obtusa the resulting
segments are not pointed, the apex forming an
obtuse angle, hence the species name obtusa.
This species has 2 rows of seeds in each
compartment of its pod. It blooms from May
into July between 5500 and 7000 ft.
New Mexico Native