Eastern Rocket
Eastern Rocket at the base of a wall
Flower and pod with short style
Rocket-shaped, lobed leaf
Long seed pods
Sisymbrium orientale
Brassicaceae
March to December
Found patchily throughout the country, but it is less common
in the far North.
See the BSBI distribution map for Eastern Rocket
Eastern Rocket is a neophyte which was first cultivated in the
UK in the late 1730s.
It has been known in the wild since the 1850s, and is found on
waste-ground and beside roads.
I have usually seen it growing in the crack formed between the
base of a wall and pavement.
It is on the increase.
Eastern Rocket is a sprawling, annual herb, growing up to 80cm.
Flowers are up to 9mm, yellow with 4 separated petals, which
are longer than the sepals.
There are 6 stamens with yellow anthers.
There is a long style with a large, slightly bilobed stigma.
Upper leaves are only slightly lobed, but lower leaves have
a long, rocket-shaped terminal lobe with 2 fin-shaped lobes
on either side at the base.
The seed pods (siliquae) are up to 10cm long and not closely
aligned with the stem.
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Eastern Rocket at the base of a wall
Flower and pod with short style
Rocket-shaped, lobed leaf
Long seed pods
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