About Rapistrum rugosum (L.) All.
Rapistrum rugosum (L.) All. is a flowering plant species in the mustard family. It is commonly known by many common names, including bastard cabbage, annual bastard cabbage, common giant mustard, turnipweed, ball mustard, wild turnip, wild rape, and tall mustard-weed. This species is native to parts of Eurasia and Africa, but it has been introduced across much of the rest of the world, where it is a common weed and an invasive species in many regions. It is an annual herb that grows an erect stem up to roughly one meter tall. Its leaves vary in shape and size; lower leaf blades are usually lobed or divided into leaflets. The above-ground plant tissue is covered in rough hairs. Its inflorescence is a raceme of flowers, with dark-veined yellow petals that each measure less than one centimeter long. The fruit is a knob-like, spherical, ribbed silique, which grows on a long pedicel that widens at the point where it connects to the fruit. Rapistrum rugosum grows mainly in temperate areas. It has documented uses as animal food, a poison, traditional medicine, and human food.
