Annual or biennial herb to 0.7 m tall

Leaves: alternate, reverse lance-shaped to linear, bases tapering.

Flowers: in branched clusters (raceme). Petals four, yellow, 4 - 11 mm long, 3 - 7 mm wide. Stamens six.

Fruit: a short pod, 3 - 6 mm long, spherical or elliptical.

Similar species: No information at this time.

Flowering: May to August

Habitat and ecology: Introduced from the southwestern states. In the Chicago Region known only from Cook County, Illinois, where it was found in 1894 growing along a railroad. It is believed that only two plants were found.

Occurence in the Chicago region: non-native

Etymology: Lesquerella is named after Leo Lesquereaux (1805-1889), who was a leading authority on American fossil botany. Gracilis means graceful or slender.

Author: The Morton Arboretum