Brassica napus
Brassica juncea
canola, oilseed rape, rape, rapeseed, rutabaga, swede, swede rape, Swedish turnip, turnip, turnip mustard, winter rape
brown mustard, Chinese, Chinese mustard, Chinese or brown or Indian or leaf mustard, India mustard, Indian, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, mustard-greens
branched distally, 3–13 dm.
branched distally, 2–10 dm.
(rosulate when biennial);
petiole (often winged), to 15 cm;
blade lyrate-pinnatifid, ± pinnately lobed, 5–25(–40) cm × 20–70(–100) mm, lobes 0–6 each side, (smaller than terminal), surfaces (glaucous), glabrous or sparsely hairy when immature, glabrescent, or, rarely, pubescent.
(early deciduous);
petiole (1–)2–8(–15) cm;
blade pinnatifid to pinnately lobed, (4–)6–30(–80) cm × 15–150(–280) mm, lobes 1–3 each side.
(middle and distal) sessile;
blade base auriculate or amplexicaul, (margins entire).
usually shortly petiolate, rarely sessile;
blade (oblong or lanceolate, reduced in size distally), base tapered or cuneate, not auriculate or amplexicaul, (margins dentate to lobed).
not paniculately branched, (buds overtopping or equal to open flowers).
not paniculately branched.
sepals (5–)6–10 × 1.5–2.5 mm;
petals golden or creamy to pale yellow, broadly obovate, 10–16 × (5–)6–9(–10) mm, claw 5–9 mm, apex rounded;
filaments (5–)7–10 mm;
anthers 1.5–2.5 mm.
sepals (3.5–)4–6(–7) × 1–1.7 mm;
petals pale yellow, ovate to obovate, (7–)9–13 × 5–7.5 mm, claw 3–6 mm, apex rounded or emarginate;
filaments 4–7 mm;
anthers 1.5–2 mm.
spreading to ascending (slender), 1–3 cm.
spreading to divaricately ascending, (slender), (5–)10–15(–20) mm.
spreading to ascending, smooth or slightly torulose, terete, (3.5–)5–10(–11) cm × (2.5–)3.5–5 mm;
valvular segment with 12–20(–30) seeds per locule, (3–)4–8.5(–9.5) cm, terminal segment usually seedless, rarely 1 or 2-seeded (attenuate-conic, thin), (5–)9–16 mm.
(sessile); spreading to divaricately ascending to nearly erect (not appressed to rachis), torulose, subcylindrical or somewhat flattened, (2–)3–5(–6) cm × 2–5 mm;
valvular segment with 6–15(–20) seeds per locule, (1.5–)2–4.5 cm, terminal segment seedless (conic), (4–)5–10(–15) mm, (tapering to slender style).
dark brown to black, light brown, or reddish, 1.8–2.7(–3) mm diam.;
seed coat finely reticulate-alveolate, not mucilaginous when wetted.
brown or yellow, 1.2–2 mm diam.;
seed coat finely reticulate-alveolate, not mucilaginous when wetted.
= 38.
= 36.
Brassica napus
Brassica juncea
Brassica napus is both a crop and a sporadically occurring naturalized weed in North America, grown in two forms recognized by some as subspecies. Subspecies napus (rape, rapeseed, or canola) is an annual with slender roots widely cultivated as an oil crop and is the most commonly naturalized. Subspecies rapifera Metzger [= subsp. napobrassica (Linnaeus) Hanelt] (rutabaga, swede, or Swedish turnip) is a biennial with fleshy roots that rarely escapes from cultivation.
Although Brassica napus has been reported as a weed from most southeastern states, it is very likely that most reports represent misidentifications of B. rapa (I. A. Al-Shehbaz 1985). It is difficult to distinguish between plants of B. napus and B. rapa that lack flowers and proximal leaves.
Brassica napus is an allotetraploid derived from hybridization between the B. oleracea complex (n = 9) and B. rapa (n = 10). Its center of origin is uncertain but likely Mediterranean Europe, with molecular data supporting evidence of multiple independent origins between the parental taxa B. oleracea and B. rapa and its related n = 9 species (Song K. et al. 1993). Specimens from West Virginia have not been observed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Brassica juncea is cultivated in North America primarily as a vegetable and condiment, and is currently being developed as an oilseed crop in western Canada. Its greatest diversity of forms occurs in Asia, where the species is widely cultivated as a vegetable and as an oilseed crop (I. A. Al-Shehbaz 1985). Two main variants are distinguished on the basis of seed color: oriental mustard is yellow-seeded, and brown or Indian mustard is brown-seeded. The species is an allotetraploid derived from hybridization between B. nigra (n = 8) and B. rapa (n = 10). Its center of origin is uncertain but is most likely the Middle East, with possibly independent multiple origins within overlapping ranges of the putative parental taxa (S. I. Warwick and A. Francis 1994). Specimens from Delaware, District of Columbia, and Mississippi have not been observed, but are still listed here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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WildflowerSearch
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- Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers,
KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria - WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
