Purple- or violet-rocket

Hesperis pinnatifida Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 31. 1803; Arabis hesperidoides (Torrey & A. Gray) A. Gray; Cheiranthus hesperidoides Torrey & A. Gray; Iodanthus hesperidoides (Torrey & A. Gray) Torrey & A. Gray; Thelypodium pinnatifidum (Michaux) S. Watson

Stems 3-8(-10) dm, striate. Cauline leaves: (proximal) petiole (0.5-)1-4 cm, (narrowly to broadly winged), distal sessile; blade lanceolate, ovate, elliptic, or oblong, (3-)4-12(-15) cm × (12-)20-55(-70) mm, base cuneate to attenuate, or (distalmost) minutely to coarsely auriculate, margins usually minutely to coarsely, regularly or irregularly, dentate or serrate, rarely subentire, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces glabrous or pubescent. Fruiting pedicels straight or slightly curved upward, (2-)3-8 (-9) mm (nearly as thick as fruit). Flowers: sepals 3-6 × 1-1.5 mm, glabrous or subapically pilose; petals 7-12 (-14) × 1.5-2.5(-3) mm, attenuate to claw (claw 4-7 mm); filaments 3-6 mm; anthers 2-2.5 mm; gynophore obsolete or to 1 mm. Fruits usually divaricate to ascending, rarely erect, (1.5-)2-3.5(-4) cm × 1-1.5 mm; style (1-)2-4 mm. Seeds 1.2-1.5 × 0.7-1 mm.

Flowering late Apr-early Jul. Shaded banks, thickets, wooded ravines, limestone or sandstone bluffs, bottomland woods, swamps, flood plains, creeks, streamsides; 50-300 m; Ala., Ark., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Md., Minn., Mo., Ohio, Okla., Pa., Tenn., Tex., W.Va.