Hoary Alyssum

Description

Berteroa incana is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. Its common names include hoary alyssum, false hoary madwort, hoary berteroa, and hoary alison. It is native to Eurasia and it has been introduced to western Europe and North America. It is listed as an invasive noxious weed in some areas of United States. This species has been described as a biennial herb, and as an annual to short-lived perennial. It is hairy, with flattened star-shaped and simple hairs. It produces one or more upright stems usually 30 to 80 centimeters tall, sometimes exceeding one meter. The basal leaves are up to 8 to 10 centimeters long. The leaves are hairy and grayish. The inflorescence is a dense raceme of flowers. The four white petals are roughly half a centimeter long and are tipped with two lobes. The fruit is a hairy silicle up to a centimeter long.