Cakile (
Cá-ki-leSyllable stress of botanical names varies with the language spoken by the person using the botanical name. In English-speaking countries the Botanical Latin places syllable stress for botanical names derived from ancient Greek and Latin broadly according to two systems, either the Reformed...
) is a
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
within the
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
family
BrassicaceaeBrassicaceae or Cruciferae, also known as the crucifers, the mustard family or cabbage family is a family of flowering plants . The name Brassicaceae is derived from the included genus Brassica. Cruciferae is an older name, meaning "cross-bearing", because the four petals of their flowers are...
. Species in this genus are commonly known as
searockets, though this name on its own is applied particularly to whatever member of the species is native or most common in the region concerned, the European searocket
Cakile maritima in Europe, and the American searocket
C. edentula in North America. The genus is native to
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
and
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, but the European searocket has been
introducedAn introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
into North America and has spread widely on both east and west coasts; in many places it is replacing the native
C.
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Cakile (
Cá-ki-leSyllable stress of botanical names varies with the language spoken by the person using the botanical name. In English-speaking countries the Botanical Latin places syllable stress for botanical names derived from ancient Greek and Latin broadly according to two systems, either the Reformed...
) is a
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
within the
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
family
BrassicaceaeBrassicaceae or Cruciferae, also known as the crucifers, the mustard family or cabbage family is a family of flowering plants . The name Brassicaceae is derived from the included genus Brassica. Cruciferae is an older name, meaning "cross-bearing", because the four petals of their flowers are...
. Species in this genus are commonly known as
searockets, though this name on its own is applied particularly to whatever member of the species is native or most common in the region concerned, the European searocket
Cakile maritima in Europe, and the American searocket
C. edentula in North America. The genus is native to
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
and
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, but the European searocket has been
introducedAn introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
into North America and has spread widely on both east and west coasts; in many places it is replacing the native
C. maritima, and is regarded as an undesirable
invasive species'Invasive species' is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically...
.
Cakile species grow as perennial plants with an erect or decumbent stem. The common species in Europe and North America grow close to the coast, often in dunes. Their leaves are fleshy. Flowers are typically pale mauve to white, with petals about 1 cm in length; they are rather similar to those of the
wild radishWild Radish or Jointed Charlock, Raphanus raphanistrum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is sometimes claimed to be the ancestor of the edible radish, Raphanus sativus...
(also in family Brassicaceae) which is found in the same regions, and careful attention to the leaves and stems is needed to tell the two plants apart.
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