Flora of North America species comparison

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Tropaeolum majus

Tropaeolaceae

common nasturtium, garden-nasturtium, Indian cress, nasturtium

nasturtium family
Habit Plants trailing, 15–100(–250) cm; glabrous or glabrate. Herbs, annual [perennial]; usually glabrous; roots fibrous [tuberous], (producing glucosinolates).
Stems

often trailing [climbing];

not branched.
Leaves

petiole 5–25 cm;

blade with ca. 9 veins radiating from petiole, 3–10(–12) cm diam., abaxial surface usually papillose.

alternate, simple; usually stipules present;

petiole present (often twining);

blade (peltate), margins entire or sinuate.
Inflorescences

axillary, flowers solitary;

bracts absent.
Pedicels

6–13(–18) cm.

present.
Flowers

2.5–6 cm diam.;

sepals light brown, oblong-lanceolate, 1.5–2 × 0.5–0.7 cm;

spur straight or slightly curved, 2.5–3.5 cm;

petals yellow, orange, purple, maroon, creamy white, or varicolored, mostly rounded, apex sometimes acuminate or emarginate, proximal 3 petals 2 × 2 cm, distal 2 petals usually entire, 2.5–5 × 1–1.8 cm, claw to 1.5 cm, claw margin deeply fringed;

stamens 0.5–0.6 mm;

anthers 0.5 mm;

style 0.5–0.6 cm;

stigmas 0.6–0.9 mm.

zygomorphic;

sepals 5, imbricate, adaxial 1 (or 3) prolonged into slender nectariferous spur;

petals 5 (sometimes fewer by abortion), imbricate, clawed, distal 2 smaller than the others;

stamens 8, (barely exserted) in 2 whorls, unequal;

anthers 2-celled, dehiscence longitudinal;

pistil 1;

ovary 3-carpellate, 3-locular;

placentation axile;

ovule (1 per locule, pendulous from apex), anatropous, bitegmic;

style 1 (apical);

stigmas 3, linear.
Fruits

oblate, 1.5–2 cm diam.

schizocarps (mericarps), 1-seeded, fleshy or dry.
Seeds

5–8 mm diam. 2n = 28.

1, (greenish), ovoid;

embryo straight;

endosperm absent.

Tropaeolum majus

Tropaeolaceae
Phenology Flowering (May-)Jun–Oct, fruiting Jul–Oct.
Habitat Disturbed roadsides, waste places, coastal bluffs, upper edges of beaches
Elevation 0-200 m (0-700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CT; MA; NH; NY; PA; South America [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Mexico; Central America; South America [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Tropaeolum majus is frequently cultivated and often escapes; thoroughly naturalized and an invasive in coastal California, it occurs as a waif elsewhere.

Tropaeolum majus is often planted in gardens, and dozens of cultivars are available in the horticultural trade. Leaves of this plant have a peppery flavor and can be added to salads and sandwiches, and the flowers can be used to decorate salads and other dishes. The foliage is rich in vitamin C, and the plant also has diuretic and antibacterial properties. The plant is also used to treat wounds and infections of the urinary tract, and for problems associated with the respiratory tract (e.g., bronchitis and flu). Benzyl isothiocyanate, which can cause irritation, is responsible for the antibiotic action. The common name, Indian cress, refers to its cultivation in India.

Tropaeolum minus Linnaeus, T. peltophorum Bentham, T. peregrinum Linnaeus, and T. tuberosum Ruiz & Pavón also are cultivated in North America, but none is reported escaped. Tropaeolum tuberosum is the source of the root crop añu (ysaño), an important staple in the Andes.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Genus 1, species ca. 90 (1 in the flora).

Tropaeolaceae have sometimes been included in Geraniaceae; they differ in having distinct stamens, fruits that split into 1-seeded mericarps, and persistent stylar beaks. Molecular phylogenies have indicated placement in Brassicales, with which they share the production of glucosinolates. The nearest relative of Tropaeolaceae is, putatively, the Akaniaceae, a family of woody plants in eastern Asia and eastern Australia (L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz, http://delta-intkey.com, 29 July 2006). The family has been divided into three genera by some (e.g., A. Cronquist 1981): Magallana and Trophaeastrum, both monotypic and restricted to southern South America, and Tropaeolum with the remainder of the species. L. Andersson and S. Andersson (2000), based on molecular sequence data, concluded that the former two genera are imbedded within Tropaeolum, and made the needed transfers so that the family consists now of a single genus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 166. FNA vol. 7, p. 165. Author: Gordon C. Tucker.
Parent taxa Tropaeolaceae > Tropaeolum
Subordinate taxa
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 345. (1753) Jussieu ex de Candolle
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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