tower mustard, Turritis glabra

Here's the top of the tower! It was maybe two feet tall on that day. By the end of the season it might get to five feet. It gets to be a tower because of its single straight stem. The long narrow seed pods are pressed against the stem, creating a slender effect. The only active flowers are always at the top. The Cheyenne people used an infusion of the plant as tea, and medicinally as a cold treatment or panacea. This native likes dry open, often sandy or rocky areas in any state or province except AL, FL, HI, LA, MS, OK, SC, TX, LB, NF, or PE. Lenawee Co MI, 4/25/12. Mustard family, Brassicaceae.