Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Rorippa palustris

Flowers. Photographer Jackie Miles

Flowering and seeding stems. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Molonglo gorge, ACT

Flowering stems. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Kosciuszko National Park

Line drawing in Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 2: 161

Common name

Yellow cress, Marsh watercress

Family

Brassicaceae

Where found

Wet mud or sand, usually near streams or lakes, or in swampy situations. Widespread.

Notes

Introduced annual or biennial herb to 1 m tall. Stems hairless, furrowed, often red. Leaves alternating up the stems, 2-12 cm long, hairless, sometimes hairy, margins deeply lobed and toothed. Basal leaves with rounded lobes at the base. Stem leaves similar, becoming smaller and sometimes entire. Flowers with 4 yellow petals each 1-2 mm long. Flowers in elongated clusters at the tops of the stems. Flowers mostly spring–summer. 'Pods' swollen, curved, 0.4–0.9 cm long, 2–3 mm wide, stalks spreading to horizontal, 4–10 mm long.

PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Rorippa~palustris  (accessed 5 February, 2021)