Hoary Alyssum

Hoary Alyssum
Hoary Alyssum. Berteroa incana.
Brassicaceae, the mustard family.

Description:
Plant: Erect, downy stem, 8"-24" topped by cluster of small white flowers and lined with flattened seed pods, rises above basal and alternate simple leaves. Annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial
Flowers: Small, white, 1/8", with four petals so deeply notched as to appear as eight, in cluster atop a narrow stem. The inflorescence is a raceme, but blooms only at the growing tip. Further down it is lined by the maturing fruits.
Leaves: Simple, basal rosette, alternate on stem, narrowly ovate, stemless (sessile), smooth-margined, or obscurely toothed, downy-hairy, to 2".
Fruit: A flattened oval, beaked capsule, 1/4" long, borne upright along the stem below the terminal flowering cluster.
Blooming: May-August
Habitat: Fields, weedy places

Comments: Classic "mustard" appearance, with seed pods lining the stem below the flowering terminus. An introduced plant.

Where to find it: In lawn areas and drier field areas.