''Diplotaxis muralis'', the annual wall-rocket, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. This plant is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, but it is found throughout the temperate world, where it has

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

. This is an erect mustard-like plant rarely reaching half a meter in height. It has lobed leaves and its stems are topped with dense inflorescences of yellow, or occasionally light purple, flowers with small oval petals and large

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

. The fruit is a podlike silique two to four centimeters long.

Description

It is an annual, but sometimes grows as a perennial, growing up to tall on unbranched stems. It has lobed leaves, which form a rosette at the base of the plant. They are long and wide. It blooms in summer, between May and September in the UK, and between April and August in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The flowers are yellow, with oblong sepals and longer, obovate petals. Later, it produces a fruit capsule, long cylindrical with a short beak. It contains 2 rows of yellow brown seeds, which are ovoid or ellipsoid shaped.

Taxonomy

''D. muralis'' was first published by Augustin Candolle in Syst. Nat. Vol.2 on page 634 in 1821, based on an earlier description by Carl Linnaeus. Linnaeus had named it 'Sisymbrium murale' in his seminal publication '

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...

' in 1753. There are two known subspecies; * ''Diplotaxis muralis'' subsp. ''ceratophylla'' (Batt.) Mart.-Laborde * ''Diplotaxis muralis'' subsp. ''simplex'' (Viv.) Jafri The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''muralis'' is interpreted as 'growing on walls'. ''D. muralis'' is commonly known as 'annual wall-rocket' or 'wall rocket', in the UK, as it can be found growing on old walls, and is similar in form to wall rocket (''Diplotaxis tenuifolia ''), which is taller and bushier. Several

cytological Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

and morphological studies have suggested that ''D. muralis'' originated from natural hybridization between '' D. tenuifolia'' and '' D. viminea''.

Distribution and habitat

It is

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to temperate regions of North Africa, Europe and parts of western Asia.

Range

It is found in North Africa, within Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, in addition to Ethiopia in East Africa. Within Asia it is found in the Caucasus, Georgia (country) and Turkey. In middle Europe, it is in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. In southeastern Europe, within Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Also in southwestern Europe, it is found in France, Portugal and Spain. It has naturalised in the UK since 1778, when it was found in a field of oats raised from imported seeds from a ship wrecked on the Kent coast.

Habitat

It grows in waste and disturbed ground, such as beside railways, roads and on tips.

Ecology

It is pollinated by bees and other flying insects. It is occasionally cultivated and

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

ed into fields as a '

green manure In agriculture, a green manure is a crop specifically produced to be incorporated into the soil while still green. Typically, the green manure's biomass is incorporated with a plow or disk, as is often done with (brown) manure. The primary goal ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q159643 muralis Flora of North Africa Flora of Ethiopia Flora of Europe Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Turkey Plants described in 1821 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus