Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Sinapis arvensis

Other names

Wild Mustard

Family

Brassicaceae

Flowering season

April to November

English distribution

It is found throughout the country.

See the BSBI distribution map for Charlock

Habitat

It is an archaeophyte, which grows in arable fields, on

waste ground and by rail, road and track.

Charlock was grown in the distant past as a vegetable

crop. Nowadays, it is considered an arable weed.

Description

Charlock is an annual, coarse and usually bristly herb,

growing up to 1m.

Flowers are in almost spherical flowerheads.

Individual flowers are up to 2cm across and have 4 bright

yellow petals.

There are 6 stamens with yellow anthers and a stigma,

which appears capitate, but is indistinctly 2-lobed.

Sepals are yellow, linear and spreading.

The seed pods are up to 4cm long and are spread

out from the stem.

The beak of the seed pod is a similar length to the

valves.

Leaves are dark green and up to 20cm.

Lower leaves are stalked and have one or more lateral

lobes.

Upper leaves are unstalked and are coursely toothed.

The stems can be simple or branched and are usually

hairy, but may vary from glabrous to bristly.