Tomostima reptans

Tomostima reptans
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Brassicales
Family:	Brassicaceae
Genus:	Tomostima
Species:	T. reptans
Binomial name
Tomostima reptans (Lam.) Al-Shehbaz, M.Koch & Jordon-Thaden
Synonyms [1]
Arabis reptansLam. (1783) (basionym) Arabis rotundifoliaRaf. Draba bifoliaMuhl. Draba carolinianaWalter Draba caroliniana f. andrenaeO.E.Schulz Draba caroliniana var. dolichocarpaO.E.Schulz Draba caroliniana var. hunteriPayson & H.St.John Draba caroliniana var. micrantha(Nutt.) A.Gray Draba caroliniana f. stelliferaO.E.Schulz Draba caroliniana subsp. stellifera(O.E.Schulz) Payson & H.St.John Draba caroliniana subsp. typicaPayson & H.St.John Draba caroliniana var. umbellataTorr. & A.Gray Draba coloradensisRydb. Draba filicaulisScheele Draba hispidulaMichx. Draba micranthaNutt. Draba reptans(Lam.) Fernald Draba reptans f. hunteri(Payson & H.St.John) C.L.Hitchc. Draba reptans var. micrantha(Nutt.) Fernald Draba reptans f. micrantha(Nutt.) C.L.Hitchc. Draba reptans var. stellifera(O.E.Schulz) C.L.Hitchc. Draba reptans subsp. stellifera(O.E.Schulz) Abrams Draba umbellataMuhl. Tomostima caroliniana(Walter) Nieuwl. Tomostima hispidula(Michx.) Raf. Tomostima micranthum(Nutt.) Lunell

Tomostima reptans (synonym Draba reptans), common names Carolina draba, Carolina whitlow-grass, Creeping whitlow-grass, and Whitlow-grass, is an annual plant in the family Brassicaceae that is native to temperate North America. ^[2]

It is native to most of the contiguous United States, except for Florida, Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and northern New England; to Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia in Canada; and to northwestern Mexico. ^[1]

Conservation status in the United States

It is listed as a special concern in Connecticut, ^[3] as threatened in Michigan, New York, and Ohio, as endangered in New Jersey, as extirpated in Pennsylvania, and as historical in Rhode Island. ^[4]

Native American ethnobotany

See also: Native American ethnobotany and Navajo ethnobotany

The Ramah Navajo apply a poultice of the crushed leaves of the plant to sores. ^[5]

Taxonomy

The species was first described as Arabis reptans by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1783. In 1934 Merritt Lyndon Fernald placed the species in genus Draba as D. reptans. In 2012 Ihsan Ali Al-Shehbaz, Marcus Koch, and I. Jordon-Thaden placed it in genus Tomostima as T. reptans. ^[1]

References

1. "Tomostima reptans (Lam.) Al-Shehbaz, M.Koch & Jordon-Thaden". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 26 February 2026.
2. "Plants Profile for Draba reptans (Carolina draba)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
3. "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015". State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved 10 January 2018. (Note: This list is newer than the one used by plants.usda.gov and is more up-to-date.)
4. "Plants Profile for Draba reptans (Carolina draba)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
5. Vestal, Paul A., 1952, The Ethnobotany of the Ramah Navaho, Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4):1-94, page 28