Whitlowgrass
- Whitlowgrass (Brassicaceae family):
- Draba verna L.
- EPPO code:
- ERPVE
- Other names:
- Spring whitlowgrass
Species information
- Lifecycle:
- Annual, winter annual.
- Propagation:
- Reproduces by seed.
- Emergence:
- Whitlowgrass emerges in the fall or early spring and usually completes its life cycle by mid-May.
- Habitat:
- Although it is most often found in cereal crops, whitlowgrass has also been found in soybean and corn crops. Recent surveys found it to be most prominent in south-central Ontario.
- Competitiveness:
- Whitlowgrass does not impact yield, even in cereal crops where it is often found.
Identification clues
Seedlings
- Cotyledons:
- Very small (1 mm), round to club shaped with a short petiole, rapidly masked by leaves.
- First leaves:
- The plant’s first leaves appear as a basal rosette of oblong leaves that are covered in small, fine hairs.
- Mature leaves:
- Similar to first leaves.
Mature plant
- Stem:
- Whitlowgrass does not have stem leaves. The bolting, wiry stem that rises from the basal rosette does, however, produce several small, white flowers.
- Flowers:
- The flowers of whitlowgrass are extremely small and have a yellow centre. The flower has four white petals that are so deeply lobed as to give it the appearance of having eight petals instead.
- Seeds:
- Seedpods are flat, football shaped and about 3 mm long.
- Roots:
- Fibrous
Often mistaken for
I know it's not Shepherd’s purse because whitlowgrass flowers much earlier than shepherd’s purse, has a much smaller basal rosette (about the size of a dime) and the seedpods are football shaped in comparison to the heart-shaped seedpods of shepherd’s purse.
I know it's not Canada fleabane because whitlowgrass has narrower basal leaf blades that are much hairier than those of Canada fleabane.





Updated: January 13, 2023
Published: January 13, 2023