Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Worldwide
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

One of the world's most widespread weeds, shepherd's purse colonises every continent except Antarctica and thrives in cracks, fields, and garden beds year-round. Its name comes from the distinctive triangular, heart-shaped seed pods that medieval Europeans thought resembled the flat leather purses carried by shepherds.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Capsella
Species: Capsella bursa-pastoris