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 i-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 5 parts of which i, 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 1 of which are 

 smaller than the other 4, and i 

 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 ot 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. 



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