Draba incana Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 643. 1753. TYPE: “Habitat in Alpibus & alpinis Europae,” lectotype designated by Buttler (1967: 329), Herb. Linn. No. 823.14 (LINN).

Draba confusa Ehrhart, Beitr. Naturk. 7: 155. 1792, not Hartmann, Skand. Fl. ed. 3, 153. 1838, nor Rose, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 8: 29. 1903; D. incana subsp. confusa (Ehrhart) E. Ekman; D. incana var. confusa (Ehrhart) Liljebald, Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Sci. Upsal. 6: 57. 1838. TYPE:

Draba contorta Ehrhart, Beitr. Naturk. 7: 155. 1792; D. incana var. contorta (Ehrhart) Liljebald, Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Sci. Upsal.6: 57. 1799. TYPE:

     Herbs biennial. Stems (2.5–)6–30(–40) cm, branched or rarely unbranched, densely pubescent proximally with simple trichomes 0.4–1.3 mm, these mixed with fewer, 2–4-rayed trichomes to 0.3 mm, distally pubescent with mostly branched and fewer simple trichomes. Basal leaves rosulate, petiolate, lanceolate or oblanceolate to spatulate, 5–29 × 1–5(–9) mm, dentate; abaxial surfaces pubescent with stalked, cruciform or 2- or 3-rayed trichomes 0.1–0.4 mm rarely with a branched ray; adaxial surfaces with simple trichomes 0.1–0.7 mm and often fewer, stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes; petiolar base and margin ciliate with simple trichomes 0.2–0.7 mm; cauline leaves of flowering stems (15–)22–54(–76), densely overlapping at least basally, ovate to oblong or lanceolate, dentate, sessile, pubescent as basal leaves, base often densely bearded abaxially with simple trichomes to 1.3 mm. Racemes bracteate basally, (11–)17–36(–48)-flowered, elongated or not in fruit; rachis pubescent as upper stems, not flexuous; lowermost fruiting pedicels (1.5–)2.5–6(–13) mm, erect to ascending, subappressed to rachis, straight, pubescent with 2–4-rayed and simple trichomes. Flowers: sepals ovate, 2–2.5 mm, pubescent with simple and short-stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes; petals white, spatulate, 3.5–4.5 × 1–2 mm; anthers ovate, 0.3–0.4 mm. Fruits oblong to linear-lanceolate or elliptic, 5–10(–12) × 1.5–2.5(–3) mm, flattened, slightly twisted or plane, glabrous or pubescent with simple and short-stalked, 2–4-rayed trichomes 0.05–0.3 mm; style 0.01–0.25 mm; ovules and seeds (24–)30–40 per fruit. Seeds oblong, flattened, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.6 mm, wingless. 2n = 32.

Flowering: Jul–Aug.

Habitat: rock outcrops, talus, and gravelly shores.

Elevation: 0–200 m.

Distribution: Canada (Labrador, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec), Denmark, England, Finland, France, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia (NW European part), Scotland, Spain, Sweden, United States (Michigan, Minnesota).