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Pictured: Alyssum desertorum — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Brassicaceae family

Desert Madwort (var. desertorum) Alyssum desertorum var. desertorum variety

Desert Madwort (var. desertorum) is an introduced annual herb, found in Canada and the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Alyssum desertorum is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name desert madwort. It is native to Europe, North Africa and Asia, and it is found in parts of western North America as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. This is a hairy annual herb producing upright stems up to about 20 centimeters tall. The leaves are linear to oblanceolate-linear in shape, 0.5-4 millimeters long and 0.3-3 millimeters wide. The entire plant is covered by 8-20 rayed stellate trichomes, giving the plant a grayish appearance. It produces small yellowish flowers with petals that are 2-2.5 millimeters long and round, notched fruits 2.5-4.5 millimeters long. The brown seeds are winged, arranged two to a locule, and are about 1.5 millimeters long. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 4 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Annual
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~2 caterpillar species

Alyssum supports ~2 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a modest genus for introduced plants — native genera typically support far more.

Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[10] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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