Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Europe and Asia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Field mustard is a bright-yellow flowering plant whose single species has been selectively bred into a remarkable range of vegetables — turnips, napa cabbage, bok choy, and rapini are all Brassica rapa. Wild plants colonise disturbed ground quickly and can complete a full lifecycle in under six weeks.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Brassica
Species: Brassica rapa