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Home  /  Plants  /  Budburst Species  /  Brassica rapa
Phenology Observation Sheet for Wildflowers and Herbs

COMMON NAME

Field mustard

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Brassica rapa

ALSO KNOWN AS

Common mustard

Plant family

Mustard (Brassicaceae)

Plant group

Wildflowers and Herbs

Field mustard is a 1 to 3 ft herb (sometimes shrub) with leaves that have 3 to 5 lobes and small, bright yellow 4-petaled flowers borne on branched flowering stems.
95 reports
61+
OBSERVERS
95+
OBSERVATIONS
!

Identification hints

Field mustard is a 1 to 3 ft herb (sometimes shrub) with leaves that have 3 to 5 lobes and small, bright yellow 4-petaled flowers borne on branched flowering stems.

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Did you know?

This species is native to Europe, but it has become widespread in the United States. This is the plant from which turnips and turnip greens are produced commercially.

DISTRIBUTION IN TH U.S.
Alaska , Alabama , Arkansas , Arizona , California , Colorado , Connecticut , Delaware , Florida , Georgia , Hawaii , Iowa , Idaho , Illinois , Indiana , Kansas , Kentucky , Louisiana , Massachusetts , Maryland , Maine , Michigan , Minnesota , Missouri , Mississippi , Montana , North Carolina , North Dakota , Nebraska , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New Mexico , Nevada , New York , Ohio , Oklahoma , Oregon , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , South Carolina , South Dakota , Tennessee , Texas , Utah , Virginia , Vermont , Washington , Wisconsin , West Virginia , Wyoming
HABITAT
Fields of cereals, orchards and disturbed fields and roadsides at elevations less than 5000 ft (1500 m). Widespread and weedy.
ATTRIBUTES
Leaves
Leaves are light to medium green, with hairs. Leaf length is variable 11 to 20 in (30 to 50 cm). The lower leaves have 3 to 5 deep lobes along their margins (edges). The basal and lower stem leaves are attached directly to the stem, and you will often see the base of the leaves surrounding the stem where they attach to it. The leaf margins are often so deeply lobed that they almost appear to be made up of individual leaflets.
Flowers
Sally and Andy Wasowski, Lady Bird Wildflower Center, www.wildflower.org
Fruits
Each flower develops into an elongated fruit that becomes 1 to 2.75 in (3 to 7 cm) long when ripe. Fruits are dry, with a long, tapering beak (hook). Seeds are released when the fruit opens, and are dark brown to black.
Bloom Time
January to May

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