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Eruca vesicaria (L.) Cav.

Rocketsalad (en), Roquette cultivée (fr), Roquette vésicaire (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Brassicales > Brassicaceae > Eruca

Characteristics

A cabbage family herb. It is an annual plant. It grows to a height of 1 m and spreads to 0.5 m across. It has a taproot, The stem is erect and slender with few branches. The leaves are bright green and occur opposite each other. The leaves have deep lobes. The flowers are white or pale yellow with purple veins. There are 4 petals. The fruit are 1-4.5 cm long. They are beaked and erect. There are many seeds and are round and 1-2 mm across.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread barochory
Mature width (meter) 0.5 - 0.25
Mature height (meter) 0.5 - 0.6
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) 0.5
Root diameter (meter) 0.5
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A native of Mediterranean regions. It will grow on most well drained soils. It prefers an open sunny position. It is drought and frost resistant. It can grow on poor soils and with low rainfall. It suits hardiness zones 7-10. In the tropics it grows up to 2,100 m altitude. It can grow in arid places. Tasmania Herbarium.
More
Waste ground, fields, olive groves, stony hills, tracksides etc.
Waste ground, fields, olive groves, stony hills, tracksides etc.
Light 4-8
Soil humidity 2-7
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 2-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 7-9

Usage

The young leaves are used as a salad vegetable. They are tender, bitter and slightly mustard flavoured. Older leaves can be pureed and used in soups and sauces. The seeds are also eaten. They are used in pickles. They are used for Persian mustard. The seeds yield an edible oil. The flowers are used as a garnish. The seeds can be sprouted and eaten.
Uses animal food bee plant essential oil food food additive fuel gene source material medicinal non-vertebrate poison oil poison seasoning
Edible flowers leaves saps seeds
Therapeutic use Antifungal agents (leaf), Appetite stimulants (leaf), Diuretics (leaf), General tonic for rejuvenation (leaf), Scurvy (leaf), Abdominal pain (seed), Analgesics (seed), Anti-bacterial agents (seed), Anti-infective agents (seed), Antioxidants (seed), Aphrodisiacs (seed), Diuretics (seed), Galactogogues (seed), Hemagglutination (seed), Insecticides (seed), Kidney calculi (seed), Liver injury (seed), Scurvy (seed), Skin diseases (seed), Urinary bladder calculi (seed), Cyanogenetic (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Rubefacient (unspecified), Sclerosis(Liver) (unspecified), Scurvy (unspecified), Stimulant (unspecified), Stomachic (unspecified), Vesicant (unspecified), Tumor(Penis) (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed. Seeds germinate in about 1 day at 25°C. Plants need to be cross-pollinated by insects to produce seed.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -18
Optimum temperature (C°) 15 - 25
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Eruca vesicaria habit picture by Trap Hers (cc-by-sa)
Eruca vesicaria habit picture by Ramón Valle (cc-by-sa)
Eruca vesicaria habit picture by jimmy andres Zamora (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Eruca vesicaria leaf picture by julien111 tellier (cc-by-sa)
Eruca vesicaria leaf picture by Jean-François Baudin (cc-by-sa)
Eruca vesicaria leaf picture by Pascale Camus (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Eruca vesicaria flower picture by norlov moisur (cc-by-sa)
Eruca vesicaria flower picture by Daniel García Escrivá (cc-by-sa)
Eruca vesicaria flower picture by Jean-François Baudin (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Eruca vesicaria fruit picture by Martin Diego (cc-by-sa)
Eruca vesicaria fruit picture by Isabelle Ouellet (cc-by-sa)
Eruca vesicaria fruit picture by Jordi Moreno Silvestre (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Eruca vesicaria world distribution map, present in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Kenya, Pakistan, United States of America, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1137625-2
WFO ID wfo-0000677413
COL ID 3B9TG
BDTFX ID 25267
INPN ID 97041
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Velleruca vesicaria Brassica eruca Brassica hispida Brassica lativalvis Brassica vesicaria Raphanus vesicarius Eruca deserti Eruca longirostris Eruca sativa Eruca vesicaria Euzomum vesicarium Crucifera eruca Eruca cappadocica Eruca cappadocica Eruca eruca Eruca lanceolata Eruca lativalvis Eruca orthosepala Eruca permixta Eruca stenocarpa Euzomum hispidum Euzomum sativum Eruca latirostris Velleruca longistyla Sinapis eruca Eruca foetida Eruca glabrescens Eruca grandiflora Eruca sylvestris Brassica erucoides Brassica hispida Raphanus eruca Brassica turgida Brassica uechtritziana Brassica erucoides Eruca oleracea Eruca ruchetta Eruca subbipinnata Eruca cappadocica var. eriocarpa Eruca sativa subsp. lativalvis Eruca sativa subsp. longirostris Eruca vesicaria subsp. longirostris Eruca vesicaria subsp. pinnatifida Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa Eruca sativa var. eriocarpa Eruca sativa var. oblongifolia Eruca sativa var. erysimoides Eruca sativa var. stenocarpa Sinapis exotica Eruca longistyla Eruca vesicaria subvar. oleracea Eruca vesicaria subvar. hispida Eruca sativa var. sativa Eruca sativa subsp. longirostris Eruca vesicaria var. sativa Eruca vesicaria subsp. vesicaria Sinapis eruca

Lower taxons

Eruca vesicaria subsp. lativalvis
WorldFloraDB 2024