Descurainia sophia Illustration Credit: Azmat

Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, erect, branched, hairy with simple and branched hairs, sometimes glandular or almost glabrous. Leaves 2-3-pinnatisect with narrowly linear or oblong lobes, stalked to sessile. Racemes many flowered, often much elongated in fruit. Flowers small, yellow or cream-coloured; pedicel filiform, often elongated, ascending in fruit. Sepals not saccate at base. Petals usually slightly exceeding the sepals, rarely short or abortive, spathulate. Stamens 6, longer ones about as long as the petals, or exceeding them; filaments not appendaged; anthers short, obtuse. Lateral nectar glands semiannular or almost annular; middle present, slightly torose, joining the laterals. Ovary linear, subcylindrical, usually many ovuled; style short with depressed capitate stigma. Siliquae linear, subcylindrical, often upcurved, bilocular, dehiscent; valves subconvex, 1-veined; septum membranous, sometimes veined; seeds 1-2-seriate, small, oblong or ellip¬soid, mucilaginous when wet; radicle incumbent.

About 40 species, chiefly American; only 1 recorded from here.

Lower Taxon

• Descurainia sophia (Linn.) Webb & Berth.

Related Synonym(s):

• Sisymbrium sophia Linn. = Descurainia sophia (Linn.) Webb & Berth.