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Holboell's Rockcress
Arabis holboellii Hornem.
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Family: Brassicaceae,
Mustard
Genus: Arabis
Description
General: biennial or short-lived perennial, the 1 to several
stems simple or often branched above, 10-100 cm tall, with
star-shaped hairs, coarse at the base, or densely and
uniformly fine-hairy overall, to hairless above.
 Leaves: the basal ones usually in a rosette, 1-5.5 cm
long, 2-7 mm broad, oblanceolate, entire to short-hairy with
star-shaped, coarse to fine hairs, the stalks sometimes
hairy on edges. Stem leaves alternate, usually overlapping,
entire or occasionally few-toothed, mostly stalkless and
with earlike lobes at base or even clasping, narrowly oblong
to lanceolate, 1-5 cm long, 2-7 mm broad, short-hairy or
sometimes the upper ones hairless.
 Flowers: 20 to 100 in a narrow cluster. Flower stalks
5-15 mm long, hairless to short-hairy, abruptly bent down
at the base. Sepals 4, 2.5-5 mm long, hairless or hairy.
The 4 petals 5-10 mm long, sometimes white to pink but
more commonly pinkish-purple.
Flowering time: May-August.
 Fruits: pods, hairless, linear, 3-7 cm long, 1-2 mm
broad, 1-nerved to about midlength, straight or only slightly
curved. Style obsolete. Seeds in 1 row or irregularly
arranged, 1-1.5 mm long, the wing barely 0.2 mm broad.
Distribution
From sagebrush and ponderosa pine slopes to well up in
the mountains, in most parts of MT. Also from B.C. to CA,
CO, NE, MI, and Quebec.
Edible plant: see below. |
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(click on image for full size)
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(click on images for full size)
All rockcresses are edible, with the typical sharp flavor of plants of the mustard family. The tender leaves and flowers are usually added to salads and sandwiches for flavor, but some people like their hot horseradish flavor, and enjoy them alone.
Varieties:
1 Stem leaves without earlike lobes at base. B.C. to CA, e. to MT and CO.
var. pendulocarpa (A. Nels.) Rollins
1 Stem leaves with earlike lobes at base, often somewhat clasping
2 Flower stalks abruptly bent down at the base, rather than curved downward. Pods commonly straight, bent down at the base of the stalk. Basal leaves uniformly finely short-hairy
3 Lower portion of the stem coarsely hairy with simple or forked to star-shaped hairs. Petals mostly less than 7 mm long, white to pale pinkish. Alberta to WY, e. to Quebec through the Dakotas and Manitoba.
var. collinsii (Fern. ) Rollins
3 Lower portion of the stem finely and uniformly short-hairy with small, star-shaped, often flat-lying hairs. Petals mostly over 7 mm long, white to deep pink or purple
4 Pods mostly 1.5-2 mm broad. Stem leaves usually with rolled down edges, the upper ones generally short-hairy. Basal leaves often felt-textured or at least grayish. B.C. and Yukon to CA, e. to Alberta and CO.
var. retrofracta (Grah.) Rydb.
2 Flower stalks more uniformly curved down, the pods drooping, with the tip often somewhat curved in Basal leaves mostly coarsely short-hairy. B.C. to CA, e. to CO and Saskatchewan.
var. pinetorum (Tidestrom) Rollins
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