Sisymbrium irio, the London rocket, is a plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual herb exceeding three feet in height with open, slender stem branches. The flowers are small with four pale yellow petals.
The basal leaves are broad and often lobed, while the upper leaves are linear in shape and up to four inches long. The fruit is a long narrow cylindrical silique which stays green when ripe. The younger pods overtop the flowers. When dried the fruit has small red oblong seeds.
The leaves, seeds, and flowers are edible, with a spicy flavor similar to cultivated rocket.[6] London rocket is used in the Middle East to treat coughs and chest congestion, to relieve rheumatism, to detoxify the liver and spleen, and to reduce swelling and clean wounds.The Bedouin use the leaf of London Rocket as a tobacco substitute.The cured pods can be placed in a basket with live coals and shaken until the pods are parched, then ground into meal and made into soup or stew.
This plant is useful.
How to get rid of:
Manual removal with a shovel, hoe or other tool is an effective spot-treatment for basically all weeds. Many weeds may come back and need to be dug again. But consistent hand-weeding will greatly reduce their populations.
When young weeds are promptly dug out, they won’t be able to seed and reproduce. And regularly digging up weeds with tap roots, such as dandelions or thistles, will weaken the root and eventually kill the plant.
