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.
SISYMBRIUM
Annual, biennial; hairs simple or 0
Stem generally erect, branched
Leaves petioled or sessile, variously lobed or dissected, green or glaucous
Inflorescence many-flowered; bracts 0
Flower: sepals erect to ± spreading; petals yellow, clawed
Fruit ascending to erect, linear to ± awl-shaped, generally cylindric, straight to ± curved, hairy or not; valves prominently veined; style conic or 0, stigma 2-lobed
Seeds many, generally 1 row per chamber; margin 0; not or ± gelatinous when wet; embryonic root at back of 1 cotyledon, sometimes obliquely so
Species in genus: ± 90 species: most continents
Etymology: (Greek: for various mustards)
| Introduced |
S. erysimoides Desf.
Annual; hairs sparse or 0
Stem 10–60 (80) cm
Leaf petioled, pinnately lobed; lobes dentate, terminal > lateral
Flower: sepals ± 3 mm; petals 1.5–3 mm, slightly < stamens, pale yellow
Fruit 2–4(5) cm, ± 1 mm wide, straight, linear, rigid; pedicel spreading, ± as wide as fruit; style ± 1 mm, ± as wide as fruit
Seed ± 1 mm, ± 0.5 mm wide, oblong, plump; embryonic root at back of 1 cotyledon
Ecology: Disturbed areas, fields
Elevation: < 300 m.
Bioregional distribution: South Coast
Distribution outside California: native to w Mediterranean
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