SPECIES DESCRIPTION
BARBAREA VULGARIS subsp ARCUATA
Family and Genus:- See- CRUCIFERAE
Common Name:- Common wintercress
Accepted Infraspecifics:- Barbarea vulgaris subsp. arcuata, Barbarea vulgaris
subsp. vulgaris.
Meaning:- Barbarea (L) Lyte's translation of Dodoen's Herbae Sanctae Barbarae,
for St. Barbara.
Vulgaris (L) Usual, of the crowd, common, vulgar.
Arcuata (L) Curved, arched, bowed.
General description:- Usually glabrous biennial or perennial
Stems:-
1) Up to 100 cm.
Leaves:-
1) Basal, with 1-5(6) pairs of lateral lobes, rarely simple.
2) Uppermost, simple, dentate, rarely pinnatifid.
Flowers:-
1) Pedicels, 3-6 mm in fruit, slender.
2) Buds, glabrous.
3) Petals, 5-8 mm.
4) Style, 2-3·5(-4) mm.
Fruit:-
1) Siliqua, 15-30(-40) x 1-2 mm.
2) Valves, with distinct median vein.
Key features:-
1) Siliqua, 15-30(-40) x 1-2 mm. glabrous.
2) Uppermost leaves, simple, dentate.
3) Style, 2-4 mm in fruit; buds glabrous.
4) Valves, of the siliqua with a distinct median vein.
5) Pedicels, in fruit not more than ¼ of the length of the siliqua.
Habitat:- Usually in wet or damp habitats.
Distribution:- Throughout Europe except for some islands. N Peloponnisos and S
Anatolia. A small population has been found by Ralf Jahn in W Crete, far from the
nearest localities. It is doubtfully native but apparently well established
.
Flowering time:- May-August.
Photos by:- Courtesy Saxifraga - Freenatureimages
