3.
Diplotaxis erucoides
(Linnaeus) de Candolle, Syst. Nat. 2: 631. 1821.
Sinapis erucoides
Linnaeus, Cent. Pl. II, 24. 1756
Annuals or biennials,
not scented.
Stems
erect, 1-4(-8) dm, densely pubescent throughout, (trichomes retrorse, appressed).
Basal leaves:
blades elliptic to obovate, 2.5-8 cm × 10-40 mm, margins sinuate to pinnatifid or lyrate, (2-5 lobes each side), (surfaces pubescent throughout, trichomes antrorse).
Cauline leaves
(distal) sessile; blade (base cuneate to broad, truncate), margins similar to basal, (distally reduced, subtending proximal flowers).
Fruiting pedicels
3-10(-22) mm.
Flowers:
sepals 4-5.5 mm, pubescent, trichomes ± flexuous; petals white (turning purple when dried), 7-10 × 4-5 mm; filaments 4-6.5 mm; anthers 1.5-2 mm; gynophore obsolete or to 0.5 mm.
Fruits
erect-patent, 2-3.5(-4) cm × 1.5-2(-2.5) mm; terminal segment beaklike, 2-5 mm, 1- or 2-seeded.
Seeds
1-1.2 × 0.5-0.8 mm.
2
n
= 14.
Flowering summer. Ballast and waste places; introduced; Que.; Calif., Mass., N.J.; Eurasia; Africa; introduced also in South America (Argentina).
Diplotaxis erucoides
was introduced from Europe as a ballast plant in the last century and may have failed to persist in some of the recorded provinces and states.
