# Heart-podded Hoary Cress (*Lepidium draba*)

Heart-podded Hoary Cress is a little plant with pretty white flowers. It grows in many places and can spread quickly, making it a common sight in fields and gardens.

- **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low
- **Habitat:** Grasslands

![Heart-podded Hoary Cress](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Cardaria_draba1.jpg&width=800)

Photo: Kurt Stüber \[1\], CC BY-SA 3.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cardaria_draba1.jpg)

## Appearance

The Heart-podded Hoary Cress has distinctive greyish-green leaves and clusters of tiny, four-petaled white flowers. Its most unique feature is the abundance of flattened, heart-shaped or roundish seed pods that develop after blooming, covering the plant in a silvery-green shimmer.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Plantae
- **Phylum:** Tracheophyta
- **Class:** Magnoliopsida
- **Order:** Brassicales
- **Family:** Brassicaceae
- **Genus:** Lepidium

## Interesting facts

- Even though it's a weed, its young leaves are sometimes eaten in salads or cooked.
- Its tiny white flowers grow in dense, puffy clusters, looking like fluffy clouds!
- The unique heart-shaped seed pods make this plant easy to identify in fields.
- This super tough plant thrives along roadsides and disturbed land!

## Special abilities

- **Root Resilience:** Heart-podded Hoary Cress can grow deep taproots and widespread rhizomes that help it survive drought and spread rapidly.
- **Seed Shower:** Heart-podded Hoary Cress produces thousands of seeds, ensuring many new plants can grow and spread to new places.
- **Patch Power:** Heart-podded Hoary Cress can form dense patches, helping it outcompete other plants for vital sunlight and nutrients.

## Measurements & details

- **Height:** 20-60 cm
- **Spread:** 30-100 cm
- **Flower Size:** 0.2-0.4 cm
- **Bloom Season:** Spring to early Summer
- **Edible:** Yes
- **Toxicity:** Mild
- **Lifecycle:** Perennial
- **Pollination Method:** Insect

## Ecological connections

- **Pollinates:** Honey bee (*Apis mellifera*) — Gathers nectar and pollen from flowers
- **Eaten by:** Small Cabbage White (*Pieris rapae*) — Larvae feed on the leaves
- **Eaten by:** Domestic sheep (*Ovis aries*) — Graze on its foliage in pastures

## Traits

- [Flowering](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/flowering): Flowering plants are any plants that produce flowers as part of their reproductive cycle.
- [Biennial](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/biennial): Biennial plants complete their life cycle over two growing seasons, typically forming foliage in the first year and flowering/seeding in the second.
- [Agricultural](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/agricultural): This human use trait describes species cultivated or domesticated by humans for agricultural purposes, including crops and livestock.
- [Grassland](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/grassland): Grassland habitats are terrestrial biomes dominated by grasses and herbaceous plants, supporting a variety of grazing animals.
- [Pollinator Magnet](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/pollinator-magnet): Describes plants that are particularly attractive and beneficial to a wide range of pollinating organisms.
- [Rapid Growing](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/rapid-growing): Rapid growing plants exhibit accelerated growth rates, quickly increasing in size and biomass within a short period.
- [Invasive](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/invasive): Invasive species are non-native organisms that cause harm to the environment, economy, or human health.
- [Pollinator](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/pollinator): Describes organisms that transfer pollen, enabling the fertilization and reproduction of plants.

## Collections

- [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/plants)

## Safety

**Danger:** 1/5 · Very low

Do not eat any plants you find without asking an adult first.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Heart-podded Hoary Cress?

Start with the whole plant, then compare leaf arrangement, leaf edges, stems and any flowers or fruit. Opposite leaves grow in pairs; alternate leaves come one at a time along the stem. These details tell you far more together than a single green leaf does. Plant Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How tall is Heart-podded Hoary Cress?

20-60 cm

### How wide does Heart-podded Hoary Cress spread?

30-100 cm

### How big are the flowers on Heart-podded Hoary Cress?

0.2-0.4 cm

### When does Heart-podded Hoary Cress bloom?

Spring to early Summer

### Is Heart-podded Hoary Cress edible?

Yes

### Is Heart-podded Hoary Cress toxic?

Mild

### What is Heart-podded Hoary Cress's lifecycle?

Perennial

## More Plants

- [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*)
- [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*)
- [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*)
- [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*)

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Source: [Heart-podded Hoary Cress: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/heart-podded-hoary-cress)