IDENTIFICATION
Regional Noxious. Perennial.
Hoary cress produces numerous white flowers at the top of the plant
which has given it its popular name of "white-top." It has distinctive
heart-shaped seedpods, blue-green foliage, and grows to 0.6 m high.
DAMAGE
Livestock will not usually eat hoary cress. It is often spread
as a contaminant of alfalfa hay. Once established, it is a highly competitive
weed, particularly with native vegetation on rangelands.
HABITAT
Hoary cress is typically found on open, unshaded, disturbed ground
at low- to mid-elevations on the coast and in the Interior grassland and
forest regions of British Columbia. It is infrequent in southern BC, but
is a major concern in the Okanagan and Thompson agricultural regions and
is present in the Kootenays and Cariboo.
SPREAD
Hoary cress is a highly competitive weed and spreads primarily
by roots.
