naturalized plants

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Tiny Plants: Draba verna

Draba verna is a small but memorable plant. Common names for it include early whitlowgrass, vernal whitlowgrass, and spring whitlow-mustard. Sometimes it is simply referred to as spring draba. As these common names suggest, Draba verna flowers early in the spring. It is an annual plant that begins its life by germinating the previous fall. While its flowers are minuscule, multiple plants can be found packed into a single section of open ground, making their presence more obvious. This and the fact that it flowers so early, are what make it so memorable. After a cold, grey winter, our eyes are anxious for flowers, and even tiny ones can be enough.

Draba verna

Draba verna is in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), which is easy to determine by observing its flowers and fruits. The flowers are about 1/8 inch across, with four, deeply-lobed petals. The fruits are oblong, “football-shaped,” flattened capsules that are divided into two chambers and hold up to forty seeds or more. Flowers and fruits are borne at the tips of branched stems that are leafless, hairless, and very thin. Stems arise from a small rosette of narrow leaves that are green to purplish-red and slightly hairy. The plant itself is generally only an inch or two wide and a few inches tall, easily missed other than its aforementioned tendency to be found en masse.

flowers of Draba verna via eol.org

Draba verna occurs throughout much of eastern and western North America, but is said to be introduced from Eurasia. A few sources claim that it is native to North America, but as far as I can tell, that is unverified. Either way, it is naturalized across much of its present range, and even though many of us consider it a weed, it doesn’t seem to be causing too much concern. It’s too tiny and short-lived to really be a problem. It makes its home in disturbed and neglected sites – along roadsides; in fields, pastures, and garden beds; and in abandoned lots. The one place it may be trouble is in nurseries and greenhouses, where it might be able to compete with young plants in pots.

open capsule and seeds of Draba verna via eol.org

The flowers of Draba verna are self-fertile, but they are also visited by bees that have ventured out in early spring. The foliage might by browsed by rabbits and other small mammals, but otherwise this plant is of little use to other creatures. Being in the mustard family, it is likely edible, but again it is so small that harvesting it would hardly be worth it. Instead, maybe its best to leave it in place and enjoy it for what it is: a tiny, brave reminder that spring is on its way and an encouragement to get down low once in a while to admire the little things.

An attempt at sketching Draba verna fruits on a raceme.

See Also: Tiny Plants: Duckweeds

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Summer of Weeds: Flower of an Hour

Hibiscus trionum is a great example of an ornamental plant becoming a widespread weed. Its common name, flower of an hour, refers to its short-lived blooms. Other common names include Venice mallow, bladder hibiscus, bladderweed, modesty, and shoofly. Native to southern Europe and tropical to subtropical parts of Asia and Africa, it was introduced to America as an attractive addition to annual flower beds. It is now naturalized in many states across the country.

Hibiscus is a huge genus in the family Malvaceae, consisting of species found throughout warmer parts of the world. H. trionum is a warm season annual that grows to around two feet tall and has the habit of a sprawling, decumbent vine; an upright, many-branched mound; or something in-between. Its leaves are alternately arranged and three-lobed with coarsely toothed margins. The flowers are solitary and borne in the axils of leaves. They are creamy white to pale yellow with a purple-brown center, and are both cross- and self-pollinated.

flower of an hour (Hibiscus trionum)

Flowering occurs on sunny days throughout the summer. The ephemeral flowers promptly produce a balloon-shaped seed capsule that is hairy and papery with prominent purple veins. Once mature, the capsules split open at the top to reveal five compartments lined with brown to black, kidney- or heart-shaped seeds. Every part of this plant is attractive and interesting to look at, which is why it is no surprise that it is welcome in many flower beds.

Seed capsule of flower of an hour (Hibiscus trionum)

Sites that are in full sun with fertile soil and regular moisture are sought after by flower of an hour. Less fertile soils are still prone to invasion. As with many weeds, disturbance is key, so it is often found in agricultural fields, rangelands, along roadsides, and in vacant lots and construction sites. Its presence in natural areas is a result of escaping from garden beds, agricultural fields, etc.

When we choose to grow plants that have a history of escaping into natural areas, we should be aware of both our proximity to natural areas and the dispersal mechanisms of the plants. Exotic plants that reproduce reliably and prolifically by seed, such as flower of an hour, should be considered unsuitable for gardens that are adjacent to natural areas.

This is because many popular ornamental plants have become invasive in the wild. Plants that are perfectly welcome in our gardens manage to find suitable habitat in natural areas, potentially threatening the livelihood of native plants and/or altering ecological processes such as fire regimes. An example of this where I live is bachelor’s buttons (Centaurea cyanus), which has escaped from gardens and invaded the Boise Foothills. While the impact of this invasion is not well-studied, the speed at which this plant has spread is disconcerting. Even more disconcerting is the fact that seeds of this and other European and Asian species are commonly found in “wildflower” seed mixes distributed throughout North America.

While I am sympathetic towards weeds, I also see them as one of the best reminders of the impacts that humans can have on the planet. They are clear indicators that every step we take has consequences. We should be mindful of this, and we should continue to have the tough conversations that issues like weeds and their impacts encourage us to have. There are no easy answers, but the dialogue must go on. Because all of us – gardeners and non-gardeners/ecologists and non-ecologists alike – generally have an opinion about weeds, they seem like a pretty good place to start.

Additional Resources:

Quote of the Week:

From the book Invasive Plant Medicine by Timothy Lee Scott

The nature of a weed is opportunistic, and we, as humans, have created enormous holes of opportunity for these plants to fill. They have adapted to be at our side, waiting for those favorable times to cover the exposed soils that we continually create. With ever-changing genetics of form, function, and transmutation, weeds have evolved to withstand the punishments that humans unleash upon them.