''Berteroa incana'' is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family,

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

. Its common names include hoary alyssum, false hoary madwort, hoary berteroa,Jacobs, J. and J. Mangold
''Berteroa incana'' Plant Fact Sheet.
USDA NRCS Bozeman. December 2008. and hoary alison.Karran, A. B. and T. C. G. Rich. (2003)
Geographical and temporal distributions of ''Alyssum alyssoides'' and ''Berteroa incana'' (Brassicaceae) in the British Isles and the relationship to their modes of introduction.
''Watsonia'' 24(4), 499-506. It is a biennial herb native to Eurasia and it has been introduced to western Europe and North America. It is listed as an invasive

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is harmful to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or lives ...

in some areas of United States and Canada

Description

Bombus lapidarius - Berteroa incana - Tallinn

''Berteroa incana'' is typically a biennial

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

flowering plant,''Berteroa incana''.
In: Klinkenberg, B. (Ed.) 2013. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. University of British Columbia. but it also grows as an annual to short-lived perennial. It is hairy, with flattened star-shaped and simple hairs. It produces one or more upright stems usually 30 to 80 centimeters tall, sometimes exceeding one meter. The basal leaves are up to 8 to 10 centimeters long.''Berteroa incana''.
Flora of North America. The leaves are hairy and grayish. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a dense

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

of flowers. The four white petals are roughly half a centimeter long and are tipped with two lobes. The fruit is a hairy silicle up to a centimeter long.

Uses

It is sometimes considered an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

good for landscaping purposes. It is planted to cover waste ground at

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

sites and in urban areas in Europe.

As a weed

''B. incana'' is an invasive species of roadsides, railroads, farms and pastures, riverbanks, vacant lots,

overgrazed Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature r ...

rangelands, and

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

s In the United States. It tolerates cold winters and hot, dry summer conditions. It thrives in poor soils with sand and gravel, more often in alkali soils. It is a weed of

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

and

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

s, reducing their quality with its nutrient-poor herbage. It competes with native flora and reproduces continuously. It may reduce

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are ...

s. The plant is likely introduced to new areas when its seed is distributed with agricultural crop seeds.

Toxicity

The plant is toxic to horses. Green and dry material is sometimes found in alfalfa feed. Signs of poisoning include

lameness A limp is a type of asymmetric abnormality of the gait. Limping may be caused by pain, weakness, neuromuscular imbalance, or a skeletal deformity. The most common underlying cause of a painful limp is physical trauma; however, in the absence ...

due to

laminitis Laminitis is a disease of the feet of ungulates, found mostly in horses and cattle involving inflammation of the laminae. Clinical signs include foot tenderness progressing to inability to walk, increased digital pulses, and increased temperatur ...

and leg edema, stiffness, fever, diarrhea, intravascular

hemolysis Hemolysis or haemolysis (), also known by #Nomenclature, several other names, is the rupturing (lysis) of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and the release of their contents (cytoplasm) into surrounding fluid (e.g. blood plasma). Hemolysis may ...

hypovolemic shock Hypovolemic shock is a form of Shock (circulatory), shock caused by severe hypovolemia (insufficient blood volume or extracellular fluid in the body). It can be caused by severe dehydration or blood loss. Hypovolemic shock is a medical emergency ...

premature birth Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is betwee ...

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

, gut ulceration, edema of the kidneys,

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema (British English: oedema), also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive fluid accumulation in the tissue or air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. This leads to impaired gas exchange, most often leading to shortness ...

, and calcium crystals in the urine. It can be fatal, but most horses survive with treatment. The toxic compound is not known.''Berteroa incana''.
Poisonous Plants. Penn Veterinary Medicine. 2013.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q159029

incana The Socotra warbler (''Incana incana'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Incana''. It is endemic to Socotra. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or trop ...

Flora of Europe Flora of Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus