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Spreading Yellowcress

Rorippa sinuata

Spreading Yellowcress Locations in North America
Spreading Yellowcress Locations in Southeast US

USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
Illustration: USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Vol. 2: 160.

What is Spreading Yellowcress?

Physical Characteristics

Leaves:

  • Elongated
  • Sword or oval shaped

Flowers:

  • Petals oval shaped
  • Petals longer than the sepals
  • Petals 0.24-0.39 inches long

Fruit:

  • Dry
  • Curving upward
  • 0.31-0.55 inches long
  • About 0.08 inches wide

Seeds:

  • Angled
  • Plump
  • 0.02-0.08 inches long

Stem:

  • Creeping rhizomes
  • 0.5-1.3 feet tall
  • Fleshy
  • Branching

Where Does it Grow?

Spreading yellowcress can be found in moist areas and along the banks of water bodies.

Pros and Cons of Spreading Yellowcress

Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus”) for many aquatic invertebrates.

How to Manage This Plant
Plant Glossary

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Photo Credits: The majority of the aquatic plant line drawings are the copyright of the University of Florida Center for Aquatic Plants (Gainsville). They are used with permission.

Aquatic plant photographs were provided by David Bayne, Jim Davis, Kelly Duffie, Billy Higginbotham, Michael Masser, John Clayton, Chetta Owens, Diane Smith, Joe Snow, Don Steinbach, Bridget Robinson Lassiter and Peter Woods.

You may use these photos, so long as you give credit to AquaPlant.

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