Rorippa palustris var fernaldiana (Butters & Abbe) Stuckey

Marsh Yellow Cress

© DETenaglia

Family - Brassicaceae

Stems - No info. yet.

Leaves - No info. yet.

	Pressed leaves.
© DETenaglia

Inflorescence - No info. yet.

© DETenaglia

Flowers - No info. yet.

© DETenaglia

© DETenaglia

© DETenaglia

Flowering - May - October.

Habitat - Wet soils, oxbow lake margins, river bottoms, sloughs, ditches, wet woods, railroads.

Origin - Native to U.S., also in Eurasia and Greenland.

Other info. - This species is very common in Missouri, being found along almost every river and ditch. The plant can be distinguished from other members in the genus by its showy flower petals, rhizomes, and lyrate pinnatifid leaves (which are serrate on the margins). Other members of the genus have small flowers which are not well developed.
Steyermark divides R. islandica into three varieties based on leaf morphology. Some authors separate these varieties into their own species. I won't go into the specifics here.
R. palustris (L.) Bess can be a synonym used by some authors.

Photographs taken along the shores of the Neusse River, Kingston, NC., 7-16-02.