Descurainia pinnata (Walter) Britton

Annuals; glandular or egland-ular; sparsely to densely pubescent, sometimes glabrous distally, canescent or not, trichomes dendritic. Stems erect, unbranched or branched basally and/or distally, (0.8-)1.3-5.7(-9.2) dm. Basal leaves: petiole 0.5-3.6 cm; blade 1-or 2-pinnate, ovate or oblong to oblanceolate in outline, 1-15 cm, lateral lobes (4-9 pairs), linear or oblanceolate to ovate, margins entire or dentate. Cauline leaves sessile or shortly petiolate; blade smaller distally, distal lobes often narrower, surfaces densely pubescent. Racemes considerably elongated in fruit. Fruiting pedicels usually ascending to divaricate or horizontal, rarely descending (at 20-110º angle), straight or slightly recurved, 4-18 (-23) mm. Flowers: sepals spreading to ascending, yellow, purple, or rose, oblong, 0.8-2.6 mm, pubescent; petals (whitish or yellow), narrowly oblanceolate, 1-3 × 0.3-1 mm; median filaments 1-2.8 mm; anthers 0.2-0.4 mm. Fruits erect to ascending, usually clavate, rarely broadly linear (wider distally), not torulose, 4-13(-17) × 1.2-2.2 mm; valves each with distinct midvein; septum not veined; ovules 16-40 per ovary; style obsolete, 0.02-0.2 mm, glabrous. Seeds biseriate, reddish brown, oblong, 0.6-0.9 × 0.4-0.5 mm.

It is a warm temperate of subtropical plant. It grows in the desert in SW of the USA. It can grow in arid places. In Argentina it grows below 500 m above sea level.

The seed are used for a ground meal called pinole. They are also used to flavour soups. The leaves are boiled or roasted and eaten. They are also eaten raw. The leaves are used to make drinks with lime juice. The pods are mustard flavour and are nibbled.

Can be grown by seedlings.