Low tufted mostly stellate-pubescent herbs, with scapose or leafy stems, simple leaves, and mainly racemose flowers. Silicles elliptic, oblong or linear, flat, few to many-seeded, glabrous or pubescent. Stigma nearly entire. Seeds wingless, arranged in 2 rows in each cell of the pod, numerous; valves dehiscent, nerveless; cotyledons accumbent. [Greek name for some plant of this family.]

Species about 175, mainly natives of the north temperate and arctic regions, a few in southern South America. Besides the following, some 30 others are natives of western North America. Type species: Draba verna L.

Flowers white.

Petals deeply 2-cleft.

1.

D. verna.

Petals entire, toothed, or emarginate.

Flowering stems scapose,leafy only below.

Plants annual, not arctic.

Leaves entire, obovate or oblong.

2.

D. caroliniana.

Leaves dentate, cuneate.

3.

D. cuneifolia.

Low arctic perennials.

Leaves stellate-canescent.

4.

D. fladnizensis.

Leaves pilose-ciliate or glabrous.

5.

D. nivalis.

Flowering stems leafy throughout up to the inflorescence.

Leaves remotely low-dentate or entire.

Basal leaves loosely pubescent, ciliate.

6.

D. incana.

Basal leaves densely stellate-canescent.

Fruiting pedicels divergent.

7.

D. arabisans.

Fruiting pedicels nearly erect.

8.

D. stylaris.

Leaves sharply dentate.

9.

D. ramosissima.

Flowers yellow.

Stems leafy.

Pods oblong, 1"-2" long.

10.

D. brachycarpa.

Pods linear or lanceolate, 3"-6" long.

Annual; pods 3"-4" long; pedicels divaricately spreading.

11.

D. nemorosa.

Perennial; pods 4"-7" long; pedicels erect.

12.

D. aurea.

Stems scapose.

13.

D. alpina.