Sisymbrium officinale (Hedge mustard)

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Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop.

Hedge mustard

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Brassicales	Mustard, cabbage, caper, papaya, nasturtiums, many others; most produce mustard oil
Family	Brassicaceae	Mustards, cabbages
Genus	Sisymbrium	A Greek name for some plant of the mustard family
Species	officinale	Sold as an herb, often applied to plants with real or supposed medicinal qualities

About plant names...

Hedge mustard shows up in hedge banks, uncultivated ground, disturbed areas, waste ground, meadows, and cultivated land. It is native to Europe, including Britain, south and east from Scandanavia to North Africa and the Near East. It is naturalized in North America.

Plants: Plants are 1½-3½′ (45-106 cm) high, with an erect light green to purplish green stem that is round, branched, and leafy.

Leaves: A basal rosette of leaves form first, looking a little like dandelion leaves (petiolate-pinnatifid). Lower leaves are up to 8″ (20 cm) × 2″ (5 cm). Upper leaves are oblong-lanceolate, often hastate, becoming progressively smaller, and are divided into three lobes.

Flowers: Stems are tipped by narrow racemes of small pale yellow flowers. Each flower has four petals, four green to yellow sepals, a central style, and several stamens.

Fruits: Narrow, cylindrical seedpods (siliques), less than ⅝″ (1.7 cm) in length.

Medical: Hedge mustard does not have any proven uses. Folk medicine sometimes used it for laryngitis and hoarseness, chronic bronchitis, and inflammation of the gallbladder.

Online References:

Illinois Wildflowers

Wikipedia

Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

References:

Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 144

Multiple Authors, PDR for Herbal Medicines, Thomson Healthcare Inc., 2007, p. 434

6/26/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Dunstable, Dunstable, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)

Erysimum officinale L.

Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop. var. leiocarpum DC.

Sisymbrium officinale description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

6/26/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Dunstable, Dunstable, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (11 × 17 cm)

6/26/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Dunstable, Dunstable, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 14 cm)

6/26/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Dunstable, Dunstable, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 9″ (15 × 23 cm)

6/26/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Dunstable, Dunstable, Massachusetts · ≈ 3 × 2″ (8.3 × 5.5 cm)

Range:

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