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Creeping yellowcress (Rorippa sylvestris)

Creeping yellowcress Synonyms: Radicula sylvestris

Common Names: Creeping yellow fieldcress, yellow fieldcress, keek

Description: First discovered in the Great Lakes region in 1884 near Lake Ontario.

Habit: Herbaceous, growing to about 0.7 ft. tall.

Leaves: Young plants form basal rosettes. Lower leaves are oblong, up to 8 in. long and 0.75 in. wide with a compound look. Deeply divided into lobed with lobed or toothed edges. Upper leaves are smaller.

Stems: Creeping, ascending branches, glossy or with a few sparse hairs.

Flowers: Elongated clusters of stalked flowers at the end of branching stems. Yellow in color, 0.25 in. across, appear at the tip of raceme, 4 petals, rounded, spatula shaped and twice as long as sepals. Narrowed base with two racemes branching off from the tip of the stem.

Fruit and seeds: Slender pod, green in color, 0.5 in. long, angled out and up from stalk.

Habitat: Native to Europe and western Asia. Can be found in disturbed wetlands, muddy or grassy borders of ditches, soggy meadows, floodplain areas, and poorly drained areas along railroads.

Reproduction: By seed and vegetatively by rhizomes.

Similar species: Native, annual Bog yellow-cress (Rorippa palutris).

Monitoring and rapid response: Once established, it is very difficult to control. Physical control is not recommended due to the potential re-growth from root fragments. Glyphsate is somewhat effective

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from the Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System, Minnesota Wildflowers and the University of Michigan Herbarium.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org). Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).


Common Name:

Creeping yellowcress

Scientific Name:

Rorippa sylvestris

Family:

Brassicaceae
(Mustard)

Duration:

Perennial

Habit:

Herbs

USDA Symbol:

ROSY