Erophila species - Whitlowgrasses

This is an early season weed of roadsides and wasteground. The small rosette plant with pointed spoon-shaped leaves has 3 species.

Erophila verna is by far the commonest. It is green rather than greyish, not pubescent and is sparsely hairy. The leaves are at least twice as long as their stalks and the petals are clearly bifid to more than halfway.

Erophila glabrescens has few if any hairs and the petioles tend to be longer relative to the leaves. There are no hairs on the sepals and upper half of the stems. Petals are bifid to less than halfway.

Erophila majuscula is densely pubescent with forked and stellate hairs. It hasn’t been reported in VC77 - yet.

For more information see the BSBI youtube video.

Wall Whitlowgrass is a different family Drabella (Draba)

Erophila verna NS5757 20Mar23 PW

Petals bifid for up to 3/4 of their length and usually not less than 1/2 their length, twice as long as sepals.

Erophila verna NS8549 18Mar22 DG

Leaves usually narrowly spathulate with acute apices, toothed or entire, Petioles variable in length 0-1.5 times the length of the lamina, lamina with scattered to moderate pubescence of mainly branched hairs.

Erophila verna NS8549 18Mar22 DG

Stems very variable in number, 1-10(-25) cm long, with a scattered pubescence of simple and branched hairs on the lower parts, upper parts of scapes and pedicels usually glabrous.

Erophila verna NS5765 7Apr2018 PW

Early in the season there can be many rosettes which will flower and fruit before the rest of the plants catch up.

Erophila verna NS5765 7Apr2018 PW

Erophila glabrescens NT0057 5May2018 PW

Erophila glabrescens NS8643 06May2018 MP