TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

BRASSICACEAE

MUSTARD FAMILY

Reed C. Rollins, except as specified

Annual to subshrub
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.

HESPERIS

ROCKET

Biennial, perennial herb
Leaves entire to lobed
Inflorescence: bracts 0; pedicel base with a large gland on each side
Flower showy, fragrant; sepals erect, inner pair sac-like at base; petals clawed, white to purple
Fruit linear, cylindric to 4-sided, sessile above receptacle, tardily dehiscent; valves 1–3-veined; stigma deeply 2-lobed
Seeds many, 1 row per chamber; wing 0; embryonic root at back of 1 cotyledon
Species in genus: ± 30 species: Old World, especially Eurasia
Etymology: (Greek: evening, from time some flowers are most fragrant)

Introduced

H. matronalis L.

DAME'S ROCKET

Stems 1–few, 5–13 dm; branches 0–few; hairs simple and forked, some glandular
Leaves many, 5–20 cm, ± lanceolate, dentate, hairy; lower cauline petioled, upper ± sessile
Inflorescence: panicle of racemes
Flower: sepals hairy; petals 2–2.5 cm, purple, rose, or white; style < 4 mm, stigma lobes decurrent
Fruit 4–10 cm, ± cylindric, generally ± narrowed between seeds
Seed 3–4 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=24,26,28
Ecology: Roadsides, slopes
Elevation: 1000–1500 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges (Trinity Co.), n High Sierra Nevada (Plumas Co.), expected elsewhere
Distribution outside California: to Canada, e US; native to Europe

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