Capsella bursa-pastoris

"Notes: Western Ghats, Naturalized, Native of Europe"

This plant is usually a winter annual, although sometimes it is a summer annual. It consists of a rosette of basal leaves up to 9" across, from which one or more flowering stalks develop that are little branched and up to 2½' tall (although individual plants can be much smaller than this). The basal leaves are up to 4½" long and ¾" across; they are elliptic, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, and pinnately lobed. The alternate leaves on the flowering stalks are much smaller in size and widely spaced; they are lanceolate, elliptic or linear in shape, and either smooth or slightly dentate along their margins. The bases of the alternate leaves are either sessile or they clasp their stalks with auriculate (ear-like) lobes. Both the basal and alternate leaves are medium to dark green and mostly hairless, although the lower sides of their central veins are often covered with appressed hairs. The terete stalks are light green to dark reddish purple (usually the latter), and they are usually glabrous above and appressed-hairy below.

Shepherd's Purse is an easy plant to identify among members of the Mustard family because of the distinctive shape of its seedpods. This shape apparently resembles the leather purse of shepherds during the Middle Ages. The hairiness of the flowering stalks and the shape of the leaves is rather variable across different populations of plants. Sometimes the basal leaves are deeply lobed, while on other occasions they are shallowly lobed.

Annual or biennial herb, to 40 cm, with a basal rosette of oblanceolate leaves, entire or deeply pinnatifid. Cauline leaves amplexicaul. Hairs simple or stellate. Flowers 2.5 mm in diameter, white. Fruit 6-9 mm, triangular-obcordate.

bursa-pastoris: shepherd's purse (referring to the fruit)

"Maharashtra: Satara Tamil Nadu: Dindigul, Nilgiri"

"

Global Distribution

Cosmopolitan except the tropics

Indian distribution

State - Kerala, District/s: Idukki

"

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Shepherd's Purse is a common plant that occurs in every county of Illinois (see Distribution Map). It was introduced into North America from Europe. Habitats include fields and pastures, areas along railroads and roadsides, gardens and lawns, construction sites, vacant lots, dirt paths, and waste ground. These habitats can be either sandy or non-sandy. Shepherd's Purse is found in highly disturbed areas, often where the soil surface has been exposed. Faunal Associations

Nile region.

Cosmopolitan, especially temperate and warm regions.

Bursa bursa-pastoris (L.) Britton:
Canada (North America)
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik.:
Brazil (South America)
Canada (North America)
Chile (South America)
Colombia (South America)
Costa Rica (Mesoamerica)
Ecuador (South America)
El Salvador (Mesoamerica)
Mexico (Mesoamerica)
Peru (South America)
United States (North America)
South Africa (Africa & Madagascar)
Greenland (North America)
Guatemala (Mesoamerica)
Bolivia (South America)
China (Asia)
Venezuela (South America)
Honduras (Mesoamerica)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

A cosmopolitan weed

Distribution: Cosmopolitan in cooler climates mostly.

Widely distributed in temperate regions.

Annual or biennial, up to 45 cm tall, erect, glabrous or hairy with simple or branched hairs. Basal leaves rosulate, very variable, usually pinnatifid (lyrate to almost entire), 5-8-jugate, shortly stalked, usually up to 8 cm long, 2 cm broad; cauline leaves smaller, sessile. ± auricled and clasping the stem. Racemes many flowered, up to 30 cm long in fruit. Flowers c. 2.5 mm across, white; pedicels up to 18 mm long in fruit, spreading. Sepals c. 1.5 mm long, l mm broad. Petals c. 2.5 mm long, 1 mm broad, obovate-oblong, cuneate. Stamens c. 1.5: 2 mm long. Siliculae obcordate- triangular, 5-9 mm long, 4-6 mm broad; valves usually with straight margins; apical notch wide, V-shaped ; style c. 0.5 mm long, hardly or not exceeding the notch; septum c. 1 mm broad, seeds 6-12 in each locule, c. 1 mm long, oblong-elliptic, pale brown.

1800-4500 m

Herbs (2-)10-50(-70) cm tall, sparsely to densely pubescent with sessile, 3-5-rayed stellate trichomes often mixed near base of plant with much longer simple trichomes. Stems erect, simple or branched. Basal leaves rosulate; petiole 0.5-4(-6) cm; leaf blade oblong or oblanceolate, (0.5-)1.5-10(-15) × 0.2-2.5(-5) cm, base cuneate or attenuate, margin pinnatisect, pinnatifid, runcinate, lyrate, dentate, repand, or entire, apex acute or acuminate. Cauline leaves sessile, sagittate, amplexicaul, or rarely auriculate, narrowly oblong, lanceolate, or linear, 1-5.5 (-8) cm × 1-15(-20) mm, margin entire or dentate. Fruiting pedicels (0.3-)0.5-1.5(-2) cm, divaricate, usually straight, slender, glabrous. Sepals green or reddish, oblong, 1.5-2 × 0.7-1 mm, margin membranous. Petals white, rarely pinkish or yellowish, obovate, (1.5-)2-4(-5) × 1-1.5 mm. Filaments white, 1-2 mm; anthers ovate, to 0.5 mm. Fruit (3-)4-9(-10) × (2-)3-7(-9) mm, flat, base cuneate, apex emarginate or truncate; valves with subparallel lateral veins, glabrous; style 0.2-0.7 mm. Seeds brown, oblong, 0.9-1.1 × 0.4-0.6 mm. Fl. and fr. Apr-Jul. 2n = 16, 32*.

"Annual herbs, sparsely branched, erect, to 30 cm high, glabrous. Basal leaves 6-14 x 2-3.5 cm, short-stalked, rosulate, oblong-lanceolate or spathulate, pinnatipartite; cauline ones 1-7 x 0.2-2 cm, ovate-lanceolate, amplexicaul, serrate-dentate or entire, acute at apex. Racemes congested at anthesis, much elongate at maturity, to 25 cm long in fruit; pedicels spreading to horizontal. Sepals oblong, obtuse, ca 2 x 1 mm, usually green. Petals 4, spreading, lanceolate, 2-3 x 0.5-1 mm, white. Fruits obcordate to 3-angled, laterally compressed, scarcely attenuate at base, slightly emarginate at apex with a wide apical notch, 5-9 x 3.5-6 mm; seeds numerous, minute, ca 1 mm long, reddish brown to black."

Thlaspi bursa-pastoris Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 647. 1753; for more than 250 synonyms, see Index Kewensis.

Shepherd's Purse is a common plant that occurs in every county of Illinois (see Distribution Map). It was introduced into North America from Europe. Habitats include fields and pastures, areas along railroads and roadsides, gardens and lawns, construction sites, vacant lots, dirt paths, and waste ground. These habitats can be either sandy or non-sandy. Shepherd's Purse is found in highly disturbed areas, often where the soil surface has been exposed. Faunal Associations

Weeds of cultivation.

Roadsides, gardens, fields, waste areas, mountain slopes. Throughout China [native to SW Asia and Europe; naturalized elsewhere as a cosmopolitan weed].

Capsella bursa-pastoris (Shepherd's Purse) introduced
(Short-tongued bees suck nectar or collect pollen; most flies suck nectar, although some flies also feed on pollen; other insects suck nectar; Robertson's observations occurred during the spring)

Bees (long-tongued)
Apidae (Apinae): Apis mellifera sn fq; Anthophoridae (Eucerini): Synhalonia speciosa sn; Anthophoridae (Nomadini): Nomada parva sn; Megachilidae (Trypetini): Chelostoma philadelphi sn

Bees (short-tongued)
Halictidae (Halictinae): Augochlorella aurata sn cp fq, Halictus confusus sn cp, Halictus ligatus, Halictus rubicunda sn cp, Lasioglossum anomalis sn cp, Lasioglossum coreopsis sn cp, Lasioglossum cressonii sn, Lasioglossum forbesii sn cp, Lasioglossum foxii sn cp fq, Lasioglossum imitatus sn cp fq, Lasioglossum pectoralis sn cp, Lasioglossum tegularis sn cp, Lasioglossum versatus sn cp, Lasioglossum zephyrus sn cp; Colletidae (Hylaeinae): Hylaeus mesillae sn; Andrenidae (Andreninae): Andrena arabis sn cp fq, Andrena cressonii sn cp fq, Andrena forbesii sn, Andrena imitatrix imitatrix sn cp, Andrena miserabilis bipunctata sn, Andrena nasonii sn cp, Andrena personata sn cp fq

Wasps
Vespidae: Polistes fuscata sn

Flies
Syrphidae: Allograpta obliqua sn, Eristalis arbustorum sn fq, Eristalis dimidiatus sn fp, Helophilus fasciatus sn, Helophilus latifrons sn, Mallota bautias sn, Melanostoma mellinum sn, Sphaerophoria contiqua sn, Syritta pipiens sn fp, Toxmerus geminatus sn, Toxomerus marginatus sn; Bombyliidae: Aldrichia ehrmanii sn fp; Conopidae: Thecophora occidensis sn, Zodion fulvifrons sn; Tachinidae: Gonia capitata sn, Periscepsia laevigata sn, Siphona geniculata sn fq, Tachinomyia panaetius sn; Sarcophagidae: Gymnoprosopa polita sn, Helicobia rapax sn, Sarcophaga sinuata sn; Calliphoridae: Cynomya cadaverina sn fq, Lucilia illustris sn, Lucilia sericata sn; Anthomyiidae: Delia platura sn; Fanniidae: Fannia manicata sn

Butterflies
Nymphalidae: Chlosyne nycteis sn, Phyciodes tharos sn; Pieridae: Pontia protodice sn

Skippers
Hesperiidae: Erynnis martialis sn, Pholisora catullus sn, Polites peckius sn

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / false gall
colony of Albugo candida causes swelling of live, discoloured, distorted leaf of young plant of Capsella bursa-pastoris
Remarks: season: esp. 10-11
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Ceutorhynchus erysimi feeds on Capsella bursa-pastoris

Plant / resting place / within
puparium of Chromatomyia horticola may be found in leaf-mine (end of) of Capsella bursa-pastoris

Foodplant / parasite
Erysiphe cruciferarum parasitises live Capsella bursa-pastoris

Animal / pathogen
Rhizoctonia anamorph of Helicobasidium purpureum infects root of Capsella bursa-pastoris

Foodplant / sap sucker
Macrosiphum avenae sucks sap of live Capsella bursa-pastoris

Foodplant / spot causer
colony of Pseudocercosporella anamorph of Mycosphaerella capsellae causes spots on live leaf of Capsella bursa-pastoris

Foodplant / spot causer
hypophyllous colony of sporangium of Peronospora parasitica causes spots on live leaf of Capsella bursa-pastoris
Remarks: season: 1-4
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / open feeder
adult of Phaedon cochleariae grazes on live leaf of Capsella bursa-pastoris
Remarks: season: 5-9

Frequent in high rainfall areas, mainly the E Highlands

Fl. Per.: March June.

Annual.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 16
Specimens with Barcodes: 40
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked