Arabidopsis lyrata are diploid plants that have a life span of two or more years, small white flowers and highly distinct basal leaves with a height of 10–40 centimetres (4–16 in).

[1] Arabidopsis lyrata is found largely in subarctic or subalpine environments with thin soils, such as rock faces, eskers and talus slopes, or exposed coastal zones.

[1] Lastly, Arabidopsis does not survive in agro-ecosystems in which weeds are rampant; it performs best under low competition and therefore has a life cycle that depends on germination, growth, and the setting of seeds in a very short amount of time before other species of plants can prevent light access.

[3] In the US state of Virginia, it can be found growing in rocky woodlands, barrens, and crevices or thin-soiled ledges on outcrops of limestone, dolomite, siltstone, metasiltstone, amphibolite, metabasalt, diabase, and other mafic and felsic igneous and metamorphic rocks.

[10] Arabidopsis species provide the ability to address questions in speciation research due to the fact that they have a relatively short reproductive cycle and are easy to maintain.

"Also, Arabidopsis lyrata varies considerably in habit preference, adaptation to local environment, life history strategies, genome structure, mating system, and chromosome number.