Rock-cress, Hairy

Information on Hairy Rock-cress

Common Name: Hairy Rock-cress
Scientific Name: Arabis hirsuta
Irish Name: Gas caillí giobach
Family Group: Brassicaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Hairy Rock-cress is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.


Mostly found on limestone, chalky grassland and walls, Hairy Rockcress can be seen on flower in June and July. It reaches about 60 cm high, and bears numerous small, white, four-petalled flowers (3 – 5 mm) in dense, terminal clusters. It is an erect biennial, the leaves of which press tightly to the stem, as do the long, slender pods which follow. The basal leaves are only slightly toothed. This is a native plant and it belongs to the Brassicaceae family.

I first photographed and recorded this species in the Burren in 2010.

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

Rock-cress, Hairy
Rock-cress, Hairy
Rock-cress, Hairy
Rock-cress, Hairy