PB Mustard

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Purple and Blue Wildflower Gallery

Mustard Family

Mustard plants typically have four petals, four sepals, and six stamens. Petals can be yellow, white, pink, or purple. The family is divided into two groups: those with fruit pods that are more than three times as long as broad (called a silique), and those that are less than three times as long as broad (called a silicula). Pods can come in many shapes and sizes but all have two halves with a partition in the center. Leaves come in a variety of shapes but are typically clasping and become simpler and smaller up the stem. Some mustards are native, some introduced.

Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) - Mustard family
Dame's Rocket (Wild Lilac) Hesperis matronalis
Flowers can be purple, pink, or white about 1/2" wide in loose clusters. Stalks 2-3 feet tall with leaves decreasing in size. Flower clusters grow on in the second year. Considered a weed in some locations because of prolific seed production. Will grow in shade or open areas.
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April 2005
(Introduced from Eurasia - transplanted to a Texas flower garden from South Dakota)

Hesper Mustard, Sisymbrium linearifolium

Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) - Mustard family
Slimleaf Plainsmustard (Hesper Mustard Mountain Mustard) Schoenocrambe linearifolia (Sisymbrium linearifolium)
This plant's Genus name has changed from the one mentioned in most guide books.
This species has very pale blue to lavender flowers, 1/2"-1 1/2" wide. Petals form an "X". Leaves are long, narrow, and deeply cut. Plant is tall and slender. Found at and above 4000 feet.
Photos taken by Mike Carrington in the Davis Mountains of Jeff Davis County, Texas, April 2005
(Native of Texas)

Also see:
Speedwell yellow flowered mustards
white flowered mustards

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