There are three plants with the common name including 'Alison', all belonging to the Cabbage Family (Brassicaceae) but with each in differing genera :

• Golden Alison (Aurinia saxatilis) the plant on this page.
• Sweet Alison (Lobularia maritima) with white flowers
• Hoary Alison (Berteroa incana) very hairy with short white hairs and white flowers.

Some similarities to : the rather rare Yellow Whitlowgrass (Draba aizoides) but that is much shorter at only 15cm and has short lanceolate leaves arranged in a cushion around the single branchless flowering stem.

Slight resemblance to : other yellow-flowered plants with a compact cluster of 4-petalled flowers at the summit such as Tall Rocket (Sisymbrium altissimum), London Rocket (Sisymbrium irio), Treacle Mustard (Erysium cheiranthoides), Winter-cress (Barbarea vulgaris) but these all produce seed pods and have wildly different leaves.

Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature :

It is an evergreen perennial, popularly grown in gardens, and often escaping onto walls and dry banks. It seeds abundantly. When open, the flowers have 4 bright-yellow petals with a central rounded notch (retuse). It is densely hairy with stellate, branched and un-branched hairs. Being a garden plant, several cultivars are also bred, which may be cream-coloured, pale yellow, lemon, tan and white.