The Shale Barren Rockcress grows on rocky, steep, dry hillsides known as shale barrens.   Not many plants can survive on shale barrens. It is the rarest of plants which grow in these conditions
    It is called a cress because it is part of a group of wild plants known as the mustards whose leaves are tangy and can be eaten by humans.
     It is a biennial plant.  After the seed sprouts, leaves grow in a small circular cluster next to the ground.  This group of leaves is called a rosette, and they stay live through the first winter and into the second year.  the plant produces flowers near the end of the summer.  To blossom, a stem grows upward from the rosette to a height of about 60 centimeters and may have many branches.
 

Reason for the species decline in population:

     New roads have been built directly through the habitat of the Shale Barren Rockcress.  In WV, five shale barrens where the Rockcress was growing have been partially destroyed by road construction and a sixth was destroyed by a small flood control dam.
 

Protection:

    Shale Barren Rockcress is not protected by any state or local laws or regulations.  This means that private land owners are not restricted in what they do on their land where the Rockcress is growing.