Rosy cress

Arabis collina, the rosy cress or hill rockcress, is a low-growing perennial herb in the family Brassicaceae native to the mountains of central and southern Europe, particularly the Alps, Apennines and Balkans, where it grows on stony slopes, screes, cliff ledges and short turf on calcareous substrates. It forms loose tufts or mats of basal rosettes from a slender woody rootstock; the basal leaves are obovate to spathulate, somewhat fleshy, and edged with shallow teeth and stellate hairs. Flowering stems 10–30 cm tall bear small four-petalled flowers that range from pale pink to lilac-purple, opening in late spring and early summer. The fruits are slender, erect siliques typical of the cress family. Like other Arabis species it favours well-drained, sunny mountain habitats and is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental rock-garden plant.