Garden rockcress (Arabis caucasica)

Features and Characteristics

Arabis alpina, commonly known as mountain rock cress or alpine rock cress, is a mat-forming, tufted, procumbent, evergreen perennial of the mustard family that typically grows to 8-10” tall but spreads to 20” wide or more. It features loose spreading rosettes of toothed, obovate, gray-green basal leaves (to 2” long), shorter ovate stem leaves and tiny, 4-petaled, white flowers (each to 1/2” long) which bloom in spring. It is native to crevices of limestone rocks, along streams and in calcareous alpine meadows of Europe, Canada and parts of the northern U.S. from Maine to Wisconsin south to Tennessee.

Subsp. caucasica, sometimes commonly called wall rock cress, is best distinguished from the species by its sagittate stem leaves, longer petals and siliques (dry deniscent fruits). Subsp. name is in reference to the Caucasus Mountains where some plants in the subspecies are native.

Arabis caucasica is a synonym of Arabis alpina subsp. caucasica.

Genus name comes from Arabia where some plants in the genus are native.

Specific epithet comes from the Latin word alpinus meaning of mountains in reference to plant habitat.