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.