Yellow Rocket

Barbarea vulgaris

I'm identifying more and more wildflowers! This is yellow rocket, also called common winter cress. In the photo above, you see it on May 7 as it is forming blossoms. Below are the buds, the blooms, and what yellow rocket looks like when you walk in a field.

Yellow rocket grows across all of North America and is considered a weed by the USDA (but not by me). It "usually occurs in non-wetlands (estimated probability 67%-99%), but occasionally found on wetlands (estimated probability 1%-33%)." (Source: http://plants.usda.gov/..... ) It is one of our earlier blossoming flowers. It attracts cabbage white butterflies, of which we have zillions. To see my photos of cabbage whites, click here.

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