Yellow Rocket-cress
Barbarea vulgaris
Found in fields, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 1–3 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial or perennial
- Bloom
- April to June
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 86 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Barbarea
- Anthocharis mideaFalcate Orangetip
- Evergestis pallidataPurple-Backed Cabbageworm Moth
- Plutella porrectellaDame's Violet Moth, Dame's Rocket Moth
- Pontia protodiceCheckered White
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Barbarea
- Acanthis flammeaCommon Redpoll
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
- Pinicola enucleatorPine Grosbeak
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Brassicaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- Yellow
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 5a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1–3 feet” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Life cycle · “Biennial or perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Garden Winter Cress; Garden Yellow Rocket; Yellow Rocket cress
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications