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Species
Information
- whitetop
- Cardaria
draba (L.) Desv.
- USDA
Symbol: CADR
- Oregon
Noxious Weed Designation: B
- Pictures
Identification: Perennial; blooms early May. Grows up to 2 ft tall. Deep-rooted. Lower leaves blue-green and lance shaped; upper leaves have two lobes clasping the stem. Many white flowers with four petals, giving plant a white, flat-topped appearance. Three known species, lens-podded, globe-podded, and heart-podded whitetop, identified by different shaped seed pods. Plants usually die back to roots in summer as seeds mature.
Impacts: Whitetop is a common weed species on alkaline soils, but is not restricted to them. It forms dense patches that can completely dominate sites, resticting the growth of other species or degrading pastures. The species is not toxic to livestock but neither is it grazed. Tens of thousands of acres are found in Oregon.
Biological
Controls: No approved biocontrol agent is available.
Oregon
Maps of Whitetop Distribution
Links:
USDA
Plants Database information on whitetop
GRIN
Database information on whitetop
Oregon Department
of Agriculture information on whitetop
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