Species name :

Sinapis arvensis L.
Published in Sp. Pl. 668 (1753)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Brassica arvensis

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Brassicaceae Juss. (=Cruciferae) (The Mustard or Cress Family)
47 species from the Brassicaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Charlock, Charlock Mustard

Maltese name(s) :

Mustarda selvaġġa

Status for Malta :

Doubtful origin. It is not yet established if this species is native or not)

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: THEROPHYTE (annuals)
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Not Protected by Law (LN200/2011 or LN311/2006)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Jan-May

Colour of Flowers:

Yellow

Habitat in Europe:

Usually a weed of arable land

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Botanical Description:

Annual; stems up to 80 cm, usually hispid at least below, sometimes glabrous. Leaves up to 20 cm, usually hispid; lower leaves stalked, lyrate, with large, coarsely toothed terminal lobe, usually with several smaller lateral lobes; upper leaves more or less sessile, usually simple, ovate to lanceolate. Petals 10-16 x 5-8 mm. Siliqua 25-45(-55) x (1.5-)2.5-4 mm, patent to erect; valves glabrous or with short, stiff, deflexed hairs; beak 7-16 mm, straight. Seeds (7)8-13, reddish-brown or blackish.

Chromosome number:

2n=18

Distributional range:

Probably native in the Mediterranean region, but introduced throughout Europe, rarer in the north

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

All Europe except the Azores, Svalbard archipelago, but only casual in Faroe Islands, Iceland

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

AE Ag Al Ar dAu Au(A) dBe Be(B L) BH Bl(I M N) dBr Bu By dCa(C F G H L P T) Cg Co Cr Cs Ct Cy dDa Eg Es Ga(F) dGe Gr dHb dHe dHo Hs(S) Hu IJ It La Li Lt Lu Ma Md(D M P) Mo dNo dPo Rf dRm Sa Si(M S) Sl Sn Sr dSu Tn Tu(E) Uk(K U) [Az(F S) Fe Ge dHb(E) No Po cSk]