Growing from a single, branching stem with a base of hairy, fern-like leaves, this is one of the first wildflowers to appear in spring. Heads of tiny, yellow flowers crown the erect, 5–22-inch tall stems. Slender seed pods line the stem as it continues to grow and flower. Note the pods are club-shaped to narrowly-oval with rounded tips and reach 5/8-inch long. Fall germinating seeds over winter as rosettes.

FLOWERS: February–July. Yellow, 4 tiny petals, 1/16–1/8 inch long (1.5–3 mm), oval shaped; flowers clustered on upright head. Siliques (narrow pods), hairless, pointing outward and upward, linear, slightly curved, 3/16–5/8 inch long (4–15 mm); stem of seed pod (pedicel) 3/16–3/4 inch long (4–18 mm).

LEAVES: Alternate. Blades pinnately compound, 1–4 inches long (1–10 cm), smaller towards top, covered with dense, fine grayish hairs. Note the leaflets along midrib are divided into round-tipped lobes (not slender, linear, pointed lobes as in D. sophia).

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly soils, roadsides, disturbed areas; deserts, sagebrush, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 3,600–8,800 feet.

RANGE: Widespread west of Mississippi River and southern Atlantic states.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Two other widespread native species of tansy mustards grow in NM: D. obtusa in the west half of NM has hairy pods when young and leaflets usually with rounded tips; D. incana in the western 2/3rds of NM has lobed leaflets and pods indented to the midrib around the seeds, but not always distinguishable from D. pinnata; D. sophia, introduced and naturalized throughout NM, has slender, linear pods reaching 1-inch long (25 mm) and narrow, pointed, linear leaflets.

NM COUNTIES: Statewide in a wide variety of habitats, especially disturbed soils.