Field Pennycress

Thlaspi arvense

This common weed of disturbed places, an annual, has small white flowers in a raceme which extends as the flowers bloom, producing a row of thin, flat seed-bearing disks along the stem (the "pennies").  Each disk is about 1/3 inch in diameter and has a noticeable notch at the top.  Leaves, prominent in spring but soon dying back, are lance- shaped, wavy-edged, and clasp the stem or, near the ground, have a very short petiole. The seed disks eventually dry and break off, to be carried away by the wind.

1-2 feet, sun.

Sping-Summer (April-August).

  Color of the seed-bearing disks may vary.

23 June 2020.

Field Pennycress, 14 April 2021.

Each seed disk has a noticeable notch at the top.

24 June 2020.

The small white flowers barely open.

14 April 2021.