Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Shepherd's-purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Lus an sparáin
Photographs: Co. Cork

Shepherd's-purse
Capsella bursa-pastoris
Lus an sparáin
Family: Brassicaceae

Flowering time: January-December. Annual/biennial. Native.

Small white flowers in erect racemes followed by distinctive flat triangular to heart-shaped seedpods. Basal leaf rosettes with pinnately lobed or undivided leaves, upper leaves clasping stem. A very variable slender, branched plant that can be hairy or hairless. Height: 10-40 cm.

Can be abundant on roadsides, waste ground and in gardens.

Similar: Thale Cress, Arabidopsis thaliana. Narrow, curved seedpods

Shepherd's-purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Lus an sparáin

Shepherd's-purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Lus an sparáin
Shepherd's-purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Lus an sparáin

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