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western tansymustard

Scientific Name: Descurainia pinnata ssp. pinnata

Family: Brassicaceae

Category: Dicot

Growth: Forb/herb

Duration: Annual, Biennial

Other Names:

       

Descurainia pinnata - Western Tansymustard

Descurainia pinnata, commonly known as western tansymustard, is a flowering plant belonging to the mustard family. It is an annual forb that's often found in disturbed areas.

Common Names

  • Western Tansymustard
  • Tansy Mustard
  • Menzies' tansymustard
  • Nelson's tansymustard
  • Payson's tansymustard
  • Green Tansymustard
  • Pinnate Tansymustard
  • Yellow Tansy Mustard

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

  • Scientific Name: Descurainia pinnata (Walter) Britton
  • Family: Brassicaceae (also known as Cruciferae), the Mustard Family
  • Genus: Descurainia
  • Taxonomic Rank: Species, with varieties including:
    • Descurainia pinnata var. intermedia
    • Descurainia pinnata var. filipes
    • Descurainia pinnata var. brachycarpa
    • Descurainia pinnata ssp. brachycarpa
  • Synonyms: Descurainia sophia (flixweed, tansy mustard), Descurainia incisa (mountain tansy mustard), Descurainia incana

Distribution and Habitat

  • Native to North America.
  • Widely distributed throughout the southern and western United States, up to 7000 feet in elevation.
  • Grows most commonly along ditches, roadsides, or other disturbed, open sites with exposed mineral soil.
  • Rare in New England, restricted to calcareous cliffs in New Hampshire.

Morphological Characteristics

  • Greenish to short-grey-hairy annual, with fine, star-shaped hairs.
  • Foliage is usually some shade of green.
  • Leaves are pinnately lobed or divided.
  • Yellow flowers.

Interactions with Other Organisms

  • Consumed by mammalian herbivores, especially in eastern states.
  • Visited by desert marble butterflies.
  • May host leaf miner flies (f. Agromyzidae).
  • Seeds harvested by Pogonomyrmex salinus (a species of ant).
  • Anthocharis sara larva found on plant.

Traditional Uses

  • The Cahuilla people used ground seeds as a drug for gastrointestinal ailments.

Further Information

  • Discover Life: Information about the biology, natural history, ecology, identification, and distribution of Descurainia pinnata.