CRUCIFERAE MUSTARD FAMILY 
YELLOW ROCKET. COMMON WINTER CRESS 
Barbarea vulgaris R. Br. 
The Yellow Rocket, also called Bitter, Winter, Yellow 
or Rocket Cress, is among the first yellow-flowered members of 
the Mustard family to bloom, from April to June. It is dis- 
tributed from western Pennsylvania to 
Minnesota, Missouri and southwestward, 
principally on waste lands, in meadows and 
along roadsides. Sometimes it is abundant 
enough to carpet large areas a brilliant 
yellow. 
The single thick green stem grows 1-2 
feet high. It is smooth, strong and angular, 
and each of its several branches terminates 
in a cluster of flowers. The lower leaves, 
4-5 inches long, have short slender petioles, 
and form a rich shiny green tuft about the 
base of the stem. They are often used as a 
spring salad and the plant is sometimes 
cultivated for this purpose. The leaves 
have the shape of a lyre, being cut usually 
into § parts of which 1, rounded and 
terminal, is larger than the other 4 in 
opposite pairs. 
The flowers have the characteristic 
Mustard family structure: 4 sepals, 4 
petals, 6 stamens 2 of which are 
smaller than the other 4, and 1 
pistil. The anthers are yellow and 
the calyx becomes yellow as the 
flower matures. The lower flowers 
open first and are soon followed by 
the seed pods while the top of the 
cluster is yet crowded with buds. 
The Erect-fruited Winter Cress, Barbarea stricta Andrz., is very 
similar to Yellow Rocket in foliage but the pale yellow flowers are in 
bloom gathered at the summit of the raceme in a flat-topped or con- 
vex open cluster. The pods, on slender pedicels, are appressed against 
the axis of the raceme. 
Barbarea verna (Mill.) Asch. is the Early Winter Cress, which 
differs by having leaves with 5-8 pairs of lateral lobes, and longer 
pods on very thick pedicels. It is occasional in southern Illinois. 
131 
