Yellow Rocket

Cruciferae

LIFE FORM: Biennial

NATIVITY: Europe

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

Basal rosette of round, glossy, dark green leaves during its first year; produces a stalk of bright yellow flowers, up to a foot tall in its second spring.

FLOWERS:

Terminal spike of bright yellow flowers in early spring.

FRUIT/DISPERSAL AGENTS:

Self-sows readily.

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE:

Common on moist, nutrient-rich soils; minimally maintained public parks and open space; vacant lots and rubble dump sites; abandoned grasslands (meadows); unmowed highway banks and median strips with frequent salt applications.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTION:

Disturbance-adapted colonizer.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:

Greens can be eaten in the spring; used as a "blood purifier" by the Cherokee Indians.