Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Brassica fruticulosa

Flower and seed cases. Photographer Russell Best, near Sunbury, Vic

Plant. Photographer James Booth, Melbourne, Vic

Common name

Twiggy Turnip

Family

Brassicaceae

Where found

Weed. Disturbed sites. Sydney area and west towards Bathurst.

Notes

Introduced biennial or perennial herb to 0.5 m high. Stems usually hairless, often almost glaucous, sometimes bristly. Basal leaves to 15 cm long, dissected, with 2 or 3 pairs of more or less rounded lobes, the terminal lobe conspicously larger than the lateral lobes. Stem leaves alternating up the stems, sparsely bristly; upper leaves becoming smaller up the stems, eventually linear and more or less entire. Flowers with 4 petals about 9-10 mm long, pale yellow fading to white. Flowers in elongating clusters. Flowers most of year except mid-summer. Seed cases 1–4 cm long, about 1-2 mm wide, midvein not prominent, more or less constricted between the seeds, seeds spaced 5-8 per cm in each half. Beak 1–7 mm long, with 0–2 seeds. Stalk fine, 10–20 mm long. Seeds red-brown.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Brassica~fruticulosa   (accessed 6 January, 2021)