Seasonal Wild Flowers

Thale Cress

Arabidopsis thaliana

Brassicaceae

March to October

It is found throughout the country.

See the BSBI distribution map for Thale Cress

Thale Cress is a plant of open, bare and disturbed

ground, such as the mossy soil shown in the picture.

It is also found on waste ground, brownfield sites,

rocky areas and sand dunes.

It is a garden weed and often grows in the crack

between the base of walls and pavements.

Thale Cress is a native, hairy, erect, annual herb

growing up to 30cm.

It is most easily identified by the rosette of basal

leaves and the typically cruciferous flowerhead.

Flowers are small (up to 4mm) with 4 white petals

with yellow bases.

Stamens and stigma are creamy, yellow.

Pods are cylindrical.

Stem leaves are lanceolate, slightly toothed and sessile.

This is a famous plant. It is the E. coli of the plant world.

Much of what we know about the molecular genetics and

biology of plants was discovered using Arabidopsis.

It has a small genome (the full genome sequence

is known), grows rapidly and seeds prolifically.

Previous page: Sweet Cicely
Next page: Wallflower

Upper section of Thale Cress with pods

Lower section of Thale Cress

Flowerhead

Stem leaves

Hairy stem and leaves - on mossy soil