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  2. Brassicaceae(mustard family) in karnataka
  3. Eruca sativa

Eruca sativa

Summary 2

Eruca sativa (syn. E. vesicaria subsp. sativa (Miller) Thell., Brassica eruca L.) is an edible annual plant, commonly known as salad rocket, roquette, rucola, rugula, colewort, or, in the United States, arugula. Salad rocket (arugula) is sometimes conflated with Diplotaxis tenuifolia, the perennial wall rocket, another plant of the Brassicaceae family, which in the past was used in the same manner. Salad rocket is a species of Eruca native to the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and...

Description 3

Initially, this annual plant forms a rosette of basal leaves up to 8" across. Later during the summer, it bolts and become ¾-3' tall, branching occasionally. The basal leaves are up to 4" long and 1" across; they are pinnatifid-oblanceolate with several small lateral lobes and a larger terminal lobe. The leaf margins are smooth, undulate, or dentate. The basal leaves taper into broad petioles. Lower alternate leaves along the stems are similar to the basal leaves, but more irregular in shape. Upper alternate leaves are smaller in size and less lobed than the preceding types of leaves; sometimes they are dentate, lacking lobes altogether. Upper alternate leaves are also sessile, or nearly so. Both basal and alternate leaves are medium green (tending toward olive green) and glabrous, or nearly so. Sometimes fine hairs occur along their central veins and margins. The upper stems terminate in racemes of flowers up to 6" long. The flowers bloom toward the apex of each raceme, while narrow seedpods (siliques) develop below. Each flower spans about ¾" across, consisting of 4 widely spreading petals, 4 narrow sepals, 6 stamens, and a pistil with a single style. The petals are are white with conspicuous veins that are purple or brown; they are oblanceolate to obovate in shape. The sepals are medium green (or olive green) to purple and linear-oblong in shape; they are often hairy. The blooming period usually occurs during the summer for 1-2 months. The flowers are replaced by cylindrical seedpods that become ½-1¼" long at maturity. Relative to the central axis of the raceme, they are held erect. The pedicels of the seedpods are rather short, but stout, curving upward; they are about ¼" in length. The seedpods terminate in prominent flattened beaks; their exteriors are hairless. Each seedpod contains 2 rows of seeds. Individual seeds are about 2 mm. in length. The root system consists of a short taproot.

Flower/fruit 4

Fl. Per.: April-June.

Global distribution 5

North Africa, Europe, southwest Asia, widely cultivated in temperate regions.

Habitat 6

Weeds of cultivation, also escape from cultivation.

Life expectancy 7

Annual.

Taxon biology 8

Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa, arugula or rocket (variously spelled rugula and roquette), is a annual, often weedy, herbaceous plant in the Brassicaceae (mustard family) that originated in the Mediterranean region (including northwest Africa) and Western Asia, and is now widely cultivated for its piquant leaves (which are used in salads and as a cooked green) and oil-rich seeds (which are used as oilseeds, similar to rapeseed, Brassica napus).

Arugula grows to 0.8 m (around 2.5 ft) tall, and has alternate, deeply lobed, often lyre-shaped leaves, with a large terminal lobe. The 4-petalled flowers are white to creamy yellow, often with purplish veins, and are up to 2.5 cm (1 in) long. The fruit is a silique--a two-parted capsular fruit that dehisces (splits open) when mature—that may be up to 2.5 cm long, containing several hard round seeds that contain up to 30% oil.

Arugula, which is high in vitamins A, C, and K, and in calcium, has long been used in Mediterranean cuisine, but has become widely popular throughout Europe and North America in recent decades for use in salads. In Asia, arugula has typically been cultivated for its seed oil for culinary purposes (including pickling) as well as industrial uses (as a lubricant) and as a source of erucic acid (used in oil paints and as a lubricant. In traditional medicine, arugula has been used as a stimulant and diuretic, and to treat stomach disorders.

(Bailey et al. 1976, Flora of China 2007, Hedrick 1919, Van Wyk 2005.)

Cultivation 9

The preference is full sun, mesic to dry-mesic conditions, and fertile loam, although other soil types are tolerated.

URL(key) 10

http://florakarnataka.ces.iisc.ernet.in/hjcb2/herbsheet.php?id=974&cat=1

URL(pic) 10

http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Rocket%20Salad.html

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Alfredo Eloisa, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Alfredo Eloisa, https://www.flickr.com/photos/127539225@N05/15502368379/
  2. Adapted by Chandan Pandey from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruca_sativa
  3. (c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29446676
  4. (c) Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/4964768
  5. (c) Bibliotheca Alexandrina, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22629364
  6. (c) Bibliotheca Alexandrina, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22629367
  7. (c) Bibliotheca Alexandrina, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22629365
  8. (c) Jacqueline Courteau, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/20836249
  9. (c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29446677
  10. (c) Chandan Pandey, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

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