Plant · P-735

Littlepod False Flax

Camelina microcarpa

Littlepod false flax is a small, fast-cycling annual in the mustard family that finishes flowering and sets seed before midsummer heat arrives, escaping the hot part of the year rather than tolerating it. The tiny seed has a mild nutty, slightly mustard-like flavor and presses to a rich oil, though harvesting a meaningful amount takes a lot of plants given how small each seed is. Its early yellow-to-white flowers draw small solitary bees and other pollinators at a point in spring when little else is blooming. One thing worth knowing before planting it near a cultivated relative: certain populations of this wild plant cross with domesticated camelina at a very high rate, so a seed grower nearby should treat it as a crossing partner rather than background weed.