SPECIES DESCRIPTION
DIPLOTAXIS ERUCOIDES
Family and Genus:- See- CRUCIFERAE
Common Names:- White wall rocket.
Homotypic Synonyms:- Brassica erucoides, Crucifera erucoides, Erucastrum
erucoides, Euzomum erucoides, Raphanus erucoides, Sinapis erucoides,
Sisymbrium erucoides.
Meaning:- Diplotaxis (Gr) Two-positions, (two-ranked seeds)
Erucoides (L) Resembling Eruca.
General description:- Annual or overwintering
Stems:-
1) 5-30 cm.
Leaves:- Of two types.
1) Lower, 5-15 cm, in a lax basal rosette, oblong-lyrate or pinnatisect, with 6-10
lobes.
2) Or lowermost more or less entire or irregularly toothed.
3) Upper, sessile, more or less amplexicaul; all with sparse, slender hairs.
Flowers:-
1) Petals, (5-)7-13 mm, white, violet-veined or becoming violet after anthesis.
Fruit:-
1) Siliqua, (10-)18-50 × 1·5-3 mm, ascending, with a usually 1-seeded, conical beak
up to 6 mm and almost as wide as the valves.
2) Gynophore, more or less absent.
Key features:-
1) Mature siliqua, erecto-patent or rarely patent.
2) Gynophore, usually less than 2 mm.
3) Petals, white, violet-veined or violet after anthesis.
Habitat:- Ruderal coastal habitats, fallow fields, olive groves, occasionally in stony
dry open shrubby vegetation. 0-400 m.
Distribution:- S.W. Europe, extending eastwards to S.E. Italy; A frequent casual in
C. Europe. Recorded from NE Peloponnisos, but the extent of introduction in
Greece is as yet unknown. Previously unrecorded from Crete. First recorded by
Enda McMullen from Loutra in 2020 - and subsequently by Christopher Cheiladakis
in 2021 at Agia Varvara.
Flowering time:- Apr-June and also Oct-Nov.
Photos by:- Enda McMullen and Christopher Cheiladakis
