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western tansymustard
Scientific Name: Descurainia pinnata ssp. brachycarpa
Family: Brassicaceae
Category: Dicot
Growth: Forb/herb
Duration: Annual, Biennial
Other Names: NY (northern tansey-mustard)
Descurainia pinnata: Western Tansymustard
Descurainia pinnata, commonly known as western tansymustard, is a flowering plant belonging to the mustard family (Brassicaceae).
Taxonomy and Nomenclature
- Scientific Name: Descurainia pinnata (Walter) Britton
- Family: Brassicaceae (also known as Cruciferae)
- Genus: Descurainia
- Synonyms/Alternative Names:
- Descurainia pinnata (Walt.) Britt.
- Descurainia sophia (flixweed, tansy mustard) – note this is a related species, not a direct synonym.
- Descurainia incana ssp. incana --- mountain tansymustard
- Descurainia pinnata ssp. brachycarpa --- western tansymustard
- Varieties:
- Descurainia pinnata var. intermedia
- Descurainia pinnata var. filipes
- Descurainia pinnata var. brachycarpa
Common Names
- Western tansymustard
- Tansy Mustard
- Menzies' tansymustard
- Nelson's tansymustard
- Payson's tansymustard
- Pinnate tansymustard
- Green tansymustard
- Yellow tansy mustard
- Mountain tansymustard (referring to Descurainia incana)
- French name: moutarde tanaisie
Distribution and Habitat
- Native to North America.
- Broad distribution across the southern and western United States, up to 7000 feet in elevation.
- Grows most commonly along ditches, roadsides, or on other disturbed, open sites where mineral soil has been exposed.
- Rare in New England, restricted to calcareous cliffs in New Hampshire.
- Also found outside of California, but confined to western North America.
Morphological Characteristics
- Typically greenish to short-grey-hairy annual, with fine, star-shaped hairs.
- Foliage is usually some shade of green.
- Leaf margins are pinnately lobed or divided.
- Yellow wildflowers.
Ecological Role
- Common throughout the Rolling Plains, especially on disturbed areas.
- Consumed by mammalian herbivores.
- Seed-pods are harvested by *Pogonomyrmex salinus* (ant species).
- Flowers visited by desert marble butterflies.
- May host *Anthocharis sara* larva.
Traditional Uses
- Ground seeds used as a gastrointestinal aid by the Cahuilla people for stomach ailments.
Further Information
- Discover Life: Provides information about the biology, natural history, ecology, identification, and distribution of Descurainia pinnata.