African Mustard Care

Plant: Annual, often ± prostrate, stiff; branches many; stem 1.5-5 dm; hairs dense, small Leaves: simple, alternate; lower 3-6 cm, oblanceolate, sparsely dentate, petioled; upper reduced, graduated to bracts INFLORESCENCE: racemes Flowers: bisexual; sepals 4, free, erect, inner pair generally sac-like at base; petals 6-9 mm, rose-violet to pink; stamens generally (2,4)6, generally 4 long, 2 short; ovary 1, superior, chambers generally 2, septum membranous, connecting 2 parietal placentas, style 1, stigma simple or 2-lobed Fruit: capsule with 2 deciduous valves, ascending, 4-6 cm, 1-1.5 mm wide, cylindric to ± 4-sided, ± narrowed between seeds; pedicel 1-2 mm; style 0, stigma lobes pointed; Seeds many, 1 row per chamber; margins 0 Misc: Disturbed areas, desert scrub; 1250-2000 m.

is an annual plant from the Mediterranean Basin which has naturalized elsewhere, including much of western North America, and is invasive in Nevada and Utah. It has recently been shown to be only distantly related to Malcolmia proper and has been reclassified in the genus Strigosella. It is an annual herb growing in a prostrate patch or clump with stiff, furry stems up to half a meter long. The mustardlike flowers are pink to lavender and yield siliques up to 6 centimeters long.