Eruca

Eruca is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, which includes the leaf vegetable known as arugula or rocket.

Eruca
Eruca vesicaria
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Eruca
Mill.
Species

See text

The number of species is disputed, with some authorities only accepting a single species, while others accept up to five species. The following species are accepted by the Med-Checklist:[1][2]

  • Eruca loncholoma (Pomel) O.E.Schulz
  • Eruca pinnatifida (Desf.) Pomel (syn. E. sativa subsp. pinnatifida (Desf.) Batt.; E. vesicaria subsp. pinnatifida (Desf.) Emberger & Maire)
  • Eruca sativa Mill. (syn. E. vesicaria subsp. sativa (Mill.) Thell.)
  • Eruca setulosa Boiss. & Reuter
  • Eruca vesicaria (L.) Cav.

When treated as a monospecific genus, all are included within E. vesicaria.[3][4]

They are annual plants growing to 20–100 cm tall. The leaves are deeply pinnately lobed with four to ten small lateral lobes and a large terminal lobe. The flowers are 2–4 cm diameter, arranged in a corymb, with the typical Brassicaceae flower structure; the petals are creamy white with purple veins, and the stamens yellow. The fruit is a siliqua (pod) 12–25 mm long with an apical beak, and containing several seeds.[5][6][7]

References
  1. Med-Checklist: Eruca
  2. Med-Checklist: Eruca vesicaria aggregate
  3. Flora of China: Eruca
  4. Flora Europaea: Eruca
  5. Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2
  6. Flora of NW Europe: Eruca vesicaria Archived 2007-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.


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