Capsella bursa-pastoris, (L.) Medicus

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1964, Flora Europaea - Volume 1. Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae, Cambridge University Press : 316

1. C. bursa-pastoris (L.) Medicus , Pflanzengatt. 85 (1792).

Plant sparsely hairy, especially below, or glabrous. Flowers scentless. Sepals usually green, often pubescent. Petals 2-3 mm, about twice as long as sepals, white (rarely absent). Silicula 6-9 x 4-9 mm, usually longer than wide, scarcely attenuate at base, usually only slightly emarginate; lateral margins usually straight or convex; apical lobes usually subacute; style c. 0- 25 mm. 2h = 32. Throughout Europe as a ruderal. Present in all territories.

Numerous variants of this species have been described by Almquist, op. cit.

C. heegeri Solms-Laub. , Bot. Zeit. 58: 167 (1900), a profusely branched plant with an ellipsoid, not compressed silicula, is an atavistic mutant of 1; because of the remarkable shape of the silicula, it was at one time placed in a separate genus, as Solmsiella heegeri (Solms-Laub.) Borbas. It was first noted in 1897 in Germany (Landau, Pfalz), was cultivated in botanic gardens, became extinct in the original locality, but later was found naturalized near Berlin.