Sisymbrium is an erect and herbaceous annual plant that grows upto 1-3.5 ft. in height. The stems are erect, hairy and light green to purplish green. Leaves are egg shaped, oblong to lanceolate which measures about 3-8 inches long and 1-3 inch wide.
The flowers have four yellow petals and measures upto 3-6 mm in diameter and 2-4 mm (0.08-0.16 inch) long. The fruit of this plant is a capsule of 0.5-1.0 inch long which is straight or curved, glabrous and terete. It possess cylindrical, flattened, reddish brown seeds of 1 mm long.
It is native to Europe, Mediterranean and belongs to the family Brassicaceae/Cruciferae. Sisymbrium officinale is widely available in the European countries, North Africa and Southeast Asia. It got introduced to South and North America, Australia and South Africa.
This plant is widely grown for the edible seeds and leaves. It is an annual plant which bears flowers from July to September. It has hairy stems which are light green to purplish green in color. It produce straight or curved capsule as a fruit.
This plant is useful.
How to get rid of:
The best way, though the hardest, is to pull the weeds by hand. Keep in mind that for this method to be effective, you should remove the whole plant with its roots. For weeds with shallow roots, you can just hold the plant by its stem and pull gently. For those with deeper roots, such as dandelions, you need to take some extra care when removing them.
You can use a small hoe to dig in the soil around the stem to loosen the soil, then get a firm grasp of the stem and pull. You may need to dig deeper and try pulling several times until you get the entire root out successfully.
