Western Wallflower - Erysimum capitatum

Western Wallflower
Erysimum capitatum (Dougl. ex Hook.) Greene
Synonym: E. asperum

Family: Brassicaceae, Mustard
Genus: Erysimum

Description
Plant height: 2-100 cm tall.
Growth habit: biennial or, occasionally, short-lived
perennial with a usually simple stem base.
Stems: simple to sparingly branched from the base, grey-
hairy with parallel, lengthwise flat-lying, T-shaped hairs.

Leaves: alternate and in basal rosette, usually grey-
hairy with parallel, lengthwise flat-lying, T-shaped hairs,
usually numerous, very variable in size, entire to sharply
toothed, 3-12 cm long, 2-10 mm broad, slender-stalked.

Flowers: yellow to deep orange or somewhat reddish,
in dense, rounded clusters, with 4 petals 15-25 mm long.
Outer sepals pouch-shaped at the base.
Flowering time: May-July.

Fruits: pods 3-10 cm long, 1-1.5 mm broad, usually very
slightly flattened but 4-sided in section, ascending to erect,
straight or somewhat arching. Stalks stout, ascending,
8-13 mm long. Style beaklike, 2-3.5 mm long. Seeds
wingless or slightly wing-margined at the tip.

Distribution
Common on dry, sandy sites and grasslands, plains to
foothills, in most parts of MT. Also from s. B.C. to CA and
e. to MN, KS and OK.

Medicinal plant: see below.

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Contents
Identification
English Names Index
Scientific Names Index
Family Index

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Western wallflower has been used as a preventative against sun burn. The plant was ground up, then mixed with water and applied to the skin. It relieves the pain caused by overexposure to
heat. A poultice of the whole pounded plant has also been applied to open fresh wounds and rheumatic joints. The Acoma and Laguna Indians used a poultice of chewed leaves applied to swellings. A tea of the whole plant was used by the Zuni Indians as a wash on aching muscles. Another application has been to have headaches relieved by sniffing the crushed leaves. Toothaches have been treated by applying a poultice of the warmed root. An infusion of the crushed seed has been drunk and used externally in the treatment of stomach or bowel cramps. The Hopi Indians used wallflower for treatment of advanced cases of tuberculosis.