Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Eurasia and North Africa
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Spines
Status: Common

About

Wild radish is an annual or biennial herb that has spread as a weed across agricultural fields and disturbed ground on every inhabited continent. Its four-petaled flowers — white or pale yellow with distinctive purple veining — are a textbook example of the mustard-family "cross" petal arrangement.

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.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Raphanus
Species: Raphanus raphanistrum