Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Perennial herb, stem simple or branched from caudex, stems 1 to several, 2-40 cm tall, glabrous throughout.

Leaves: Basal leaves 0.9-3.5 cm long, 2-10 mm wide, ovate to spatulate, minutely toothed; cauline leaves 0.5-2.5 cm long, 1-12 mm wide, sessile with clasping bases, glabrous.

Flowers: Racemes without bracts, pedicels 2-15 mm long, spreading or spreading-ascending; sepals 1.5-3.5 mm long, greenish to purplish; petals 4, 3.5-7.5 mm long, white to pink or lavender, spatulate; style 1-3 mm with shallow notch.

Fruits: Silicle flattened perpendicular to partition, with a notch at the tip, style protruding 0.5-2.5 mm long, many faintly striate seeds per ovule.

Ecology: Found on talus slopes, alluvial slopes, and in meadows from 4,000-12,000 ft (1219-3658 m); flowers February-August.

Notes: Fairly widespread species in the mountains of the region, with several closely related species and varieties. Often spotted as only a basal rosette.

Ethnobotany: The seeds were used, other varieties of the species have additional uses.

Etymology: Noccaea is named for the Italian botanist Domenico Nocca (1758-1841), while montana means of the mountains.

Synonyms: Thlaspi montanum is the most recent name, see Tropicos as there are many more

Editor: SBuckley, 2010