Annual to short-lived perennial; stems solitary to few, erect; herbage not hairy; tap-rooted; basal and stem leaves pinnatifid (divided into (comb-like), margins); flowers yellow, small, 4-petaled; flower stems dense in flower elongating in fruit.
Plants rarely hairy; upper leaves stemmed, leaves pinnately lobed; sepals <1/2 and petals <1/2 inch long; petals rounded to spatula-like, longer than the sepals; fruits greater than 3x longer than wide (siliques), often curved.
Habitat
Wet pastures, moist fields, ponds, ditches, meadows.
Flower Characteristics
Flower stems elongate in fruit; flower stems s-curved, horizontally spreading to infrequently slightly bending downward; sepals lance-like; petals somewhat rounded; nectar glands confluent, often subtending bases of stamens.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves basal and on stems, narrower at attachment, 2 to 5 inches long, up to 1 inch wide, pinnately divided to comb-like margins, lobes often toothed, the terminal lobe narrow, the tip rounded; blades stalked, not clasping.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruit more than 3x longer than wide and splits open longitudinally when mature (silique), elongated, rounded in cross-section, <3/4 inch long, straight to slightly curved inward.
Seeds 20 to 80 per pod.