Wild Radish or
Jointed Charlock,
Raphanus raphanistrum, is a
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...
in the 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...
. It is sometimes claimed to be the ancestor of the edible
radishThe radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family that was domesticated in Europe in pre-Roman times. They are grown and consumed throughout the world. Radishes have numerous varieties, varying in size, color and duration of required cultivation time...
,
Raphanus sativus. Native to
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...
(or, according to some authorities, the Mediterranean), it 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 most parts of the world, and is regarded as a damagingly
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...
in many, for example
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. It spreads rapidly, and is often found growing on roadsides or in other places where the ground has been disturbed.
In southeastern USA, the pale yellow form is common, sometimes entirely taking over fields in wintertime.
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Wild Radish or
Jointed Charlock,
Raphanus raphanistrum, is a
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...
in the 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...
. It is sometimes claimed to be the ancestor of the edible
radishThe radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family that was domesticated in Europe in pre-Roman times. They are grown and consumed throughout the world. Radishes have numerous varieties, varying in size, color and duration of required cultivation time...
,
Raphanus sativus. Native to
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...
(or, according to some authorities, the Mediterranean), it 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 most parts of the world, and is regarded as a damagingly
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...
in many, for example
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. It spreads rapidly, and is often found growing on roadsides or in other places where the ground has been disturbed.
In southeastern USA, the pale yellow form is common, sometimes entirely taking over fields in wintertime. It is often erroneously identified as
mustardWhite mustard is an annual plant of the family Cruciferae. It is sometimes also referred to as Brassica alba or B hirta...
. It is a significant source of pollen and nectar for a variety of pollinators, especially honey bees during the very early spring starting buildup.
Wild radish grows as an
annualAn annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
or
biennial plantA biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...
, with attractive four-petalled flowers 15-20 mm across and varying in colour, usually from white to purple but sometimes light orange to yellow, often with colour shading within a single petal. It is frost hardy, and even hard freezes only temporarily interrupt bloom. It blooms in early spring to late summer with flowers very similar to those of the searocket, which is found in some of the same regions and is easily distinguished from it by having thinner, non-succulent stems and leaves. It has a single
taprootTaproot is an enlarged somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
which is similar to that of the cultivated radish but less enlarged.
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