Leaves generally basal and cauline, alternate, generally simple; stipules 0
Inflorescence: generally raceme
Flower bisexual; sepals 4, free; petals (0)4, free, generally white or yellow, often clawed; stamens generally (2,4)6, generally 4 long, 2 short; ovary 1, superior, chambers generally 2, septum membranous, connecting 2 parietal placentas, style 1, stigma simple or 2-lobed
Fruit: generally capsule ("silique") with 2 deciduous valves, sometimes breaking transversely or indehiscent
Seeds 1–many per chamber
Genera in family: 300+ genera, 3000+ species: worldwide, especially cool regions; some cultivated for food (especially Brassica, Raphanus ) and ornamental
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Capparaceae [Rodman et al. 1993 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 80:686–699; Rollins 1993 Cruciferae of Continental North America. Stanford Univ Press]
Family description, key to genera by Robert A. Price.
CORONOPUS
WART or SWINE CRESS
Annual, biennial; odor often foul; hairs 0 or simple
Stems several–many
Leaves entire to very deeply pinnately lobed; basal and lower cauline petioled; upper subsessile
Inflorescence from leaf axils, dense
Flower minute: sepals spreading; petals small or 0, white or purplish; stamens 2 or 4
Fruit of 2 nutlet-like halves, inflated except at septum, flat perpendicular to septum, sessile above receptacle, indehiscent; valves hardened, each ± surrounding 1 seed
Seed oblong to ± reniform; embryonic root at back of 1 cotyledon
Species in genus: ± 10 species: generally Medit, few n South America
Etymology: (Greek: crow foot, from leaf shape)
| Introduced |
C. squamatus (Forssk.) Asch.
SWINE CRESS
Annual, biennial
Stem prostrate to decumbent, generally much-branched, 5–30 cm
Leaves many, oblanceolate to obovate, very deeply pinnately lobed; lobes narrow, generally coarsely toothed or ± dissected
Flower 1–1.5 mm; petals obovate, white
Fruit: pedicel 1–2 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=32
Ecology: Disturbed areas, fields
Elevation: < 300 m.
Bioregional distribution: San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento Valley, Sonoran Desert
Distribution outside California: native to Europe
Weedy.
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