Rhamphospermum nigrum

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Rhamphospermum nigrum
Koeh-170.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Rhamphospermum
Species:
R. nigrum
Binomial name
Rhamphospermum nigrum
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Brassica brachycarpaP.Candargy
    • Brassica bracteolataFisch. & C.A.Mey.
    • Brassica elongata var. longipedicellataHalácsy ex Formánek
    • Brassica nigra(L.) W.D.J.Koch
    • Brassica nigra var. abyssinicaA.Braun
    • Brassica nigra var. bracteolata(Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Spach ex Coss.
    • Brassica nigra f. brevifloraZapał.
    • Brassica nigra var. carneodentataKuntze
    • Brassica nigra f. condensataHausskn.
    • Brassica nigra f. dentiferaZapał.
    • Brassica nigra f. glabrataZapał.
    • Brassica nigra f. hispidaO.E.Schulz
    • Brassica nigra subsp. hispida(O.E.Schulz) Gladis
    • Brassica nigra proles persooniiRouy & Foucaud
    • Brassica nigra var. subglabraKuntze
    • Brassica nigra var. torulosa(Pers.) Alef.
    • Brassica nigra proles turgida(Pers.) Rouy & Foucaud
    • Brassica nigra var. turgida(Pers.) Alef.
    • Brassica nigra var. vulgarisAlef.
    • Brassica persooniiRouy & Foucaud
    • Brassica sinapioidesRoth
    • Brassica sinapioidesRoth ex W.D.J.Koch
    • Brassica sinapisNoulet
    • Brassica turgidaRouy & Foucaud
    • Crucifera sinapis(L.) E.H.L.Krause
    • Erysimum glabrumC.Presl
    • Melanosinapis communisSpenn.
    • Melanosinapis nigra(L.) Calest.
    • Mutarda nigra(L.) Bernh.
    • Raphanus sinapis-officinalisCrantz
    • Sinapis bracteolataG.Don
    • Sinapis erysimoidesRoxb.
    • Sinapis gorraeaBuch.-Ham. ex Wall.
    • Sinapis nigraL.
    • Sinapis nigra var. torulosa(Pers.) Mérat
    • Sinapis nigra var. turgida(Pers.) Mérat
    • Sinapis orgyalisWilld. ex Ledeb.
    • Sinapis persoonii(Rouy & Foucaud) A.Chev.
    • Sinapis torulosaPers.
    • Sinapis turgidaA.Chev.
    • Sinapis turgidaPers.
    • Sisymbrium nigrum(L.) Prantl

Rhamphospermum nigrum (syns. Brassica nigra and Sinapis nigra), black mustard, is an annual plant cultivated for its dark-brown-to-black seeds, which are commonly used as a spice. [1] [2] [3] It is native to cooler regions of North Africa, temperate regions of Europe, and parts of Asia.

Contents

Description

Black mustard plants in Saarbrucken 20120704Brassica nigra1.jpg
Black mustard plants in Saarbrücken
Black mustard fruits at the Jardin des Plantes de Paris Brassica nigra silique.jpg
Black mustard fruits at the Jardin des Plantes de Paris
Black mustard seeds Black mustard.jpg
Black mustard seeds

It is an upright plant, with large stalked leaves. They are covered with hairs or bristles at the base, but on the stem smoother. It can reach up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) tall in moist fertile soil. [4] [5] [6] It blooms in summer, from May (in the UK) onwards. The flowers have four yellow petals, which are twice as long as the sepals. Each stem has around four flowers at the top, forming a ring around the stem. Later, the plant forms long seed pods, that contain rounded seeds. [4]

Taxonomy

It was formally described by Karl Koch in "Deutschl. Fl." (or Deutschlands Flora) ed.3 on page 713 in 1833. [7] [8] This was based on a description by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus.

The Latin-specific epithet nigrum is derived from the Latin word for black. [9] [10] This is due to the black seeds. [4]

Distribution and habitat

It is native to tropical regions of North Africa, temperate regions of Europe and parts of Asia. [11]

Range

It is found in North Africa, within Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Ethiopia, Morocco and Tunisia. Within Asia, it is found in Afghanistan, Armenia, the Caucasus, China (in the provinces of Gansu, Jiangsu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Xizang), Cyprus, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. In eastern Europe, it is found in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. In middle Europe, it is found in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. In northern Europe, in Ireland and the United Kingdom. In southeastern Europe, within Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. Also in southwestern Europe, it is found in France and Spain. [11]

It was introduced to the Pacific coast of North America and is considered an invasive species. [12] [13] The plant was brought here centuries ago by Catholic missionaries during the era of Spanish exploration and colonization, as a food crop, according to Matt Loftis, a manager of Mountain Forestry Department at TreePeople in Los Angeles, California. It has since thrived unchecked, aided by a similar Mediterranean climate in Southern California.[20] Ng, Fiona https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/yellow-wildflowers-socal-bad-for-our-environment 1 June 2024 LAist

Uses

More than 2,000 years ago, the plant was used as a condiment; it was mentioned by the Roman author Columella in the 1st century A.D. The plant leaves were also pickled in vinegar. In 13th century France the seeds were ground and used. They were mixed with unfermented grape juice (must) to create "moût-ardent" ("burning must"). This became later "moutarde", [4] or mustard in English.

A spice is generally made from ground seeds of the plant, with the seed coats removed. The small (1 mm) seeds are hard and vary in color from dark brown to black. They are flavorful, although they have almost no aroma. The seeds are commonly used in Indian cuisine, [14] for example in curry, where it is known as rai. [15] The seeds are usually thrown into hot oil or ghee, after which they pop, releasing a characteristic nutty flavor. The seeds have a significant amount of fatty oil, mainly oleic acid. [16] This oil is used often as cooking oil in India, where it is called "sarson ka tel". [17]

The young leaves, buds and flowers are edible. [6] In Ethiopia, where the plant is cultivated as a vegetable in Gondar, Harar and Shewa, the shoots and leaves are consumed cooked and the seeds used as a spice. Its Amharic name is senafitch. [18]

Black mustard is thought to be the seed mentioned by Jesus in the Parable of the Mustard Seed. [19]

Since the 1950s, black mustard has become less popular as compared to brown mustard, because some cultivars of brown mustard have seeds that can be mechanically harvested in a more efficient manner.

Folk medicine

In the UK, the plant was used to make "hot mustard baths", which would aid people with colds. [4] Ground seeds of the plant mixed with honey are widely used in eastern Europe as a cough suppressant. In Eastern Canada, the use of mouche de moutarde to treat respiratory infections was popular before the advent of modern medicine. It consisted in mixing ground mustard seeds with flour and water, and creating a cataplasm with the paste. This poultice was put on the chest or the back and left until the person felt a stinging sensation. Mustard poultice could also be used to aid muscular pains. [4]

Similar plants

Despite their similar common names, black mustard and white mustard (genus Sinapis ) are not in the same genus. Black mustard belongs to the same tribe as cabbage and turnips.

R. nigrum also resembles Hirschfeldia incana , or hoary mustard (formerly Brassica geniculata), which is a perennial plant.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brassicaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Brassicaceae or Cruciferae is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The leaves are simple, lack stipules, and appear alternately on stems or in rosettes. The inflorescences are terminal and lack bracts. The flowers have four free sepals, four free alternating petals, two shorter free stamens and four longer free stamens. The fruit has seeds in rows, divided by a thin wall.

<i>Brassica</i> Genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family Brassicaceae

Brassica is a genus of plants in the cabbage and mustard family (Brassicaceae). The members of the genus are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, mustard plants, or simply brassicas. Crops from this genus are sometimes called cole crops—derived from the Latin caulis, denoting the stem or stalk of a plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mustard seed</span> Small round seeds of various mustard plants

Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about 1 to 2 millimetres in diameter and may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are an important spice in many regional foods and may come from one of three different plants: black mustard, brown mustard (B. juncea), or white mustard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mustard oil</span> Oil derived from mustard plants

Mustard oil can mean either the pressed oil used for cooking, or a pungent essential oil also known as volatile oil of mustard. The essential oil results from grinding mustard seed, mixing the grounds with water, and isolating the resulting volatile oil by distillation. It can also be produced by dry distillation of the seed. Pressed mustard oil is used as cooking oil in some cultures, but sale is restricted in some countries due to high levels of erucic acid. Varieties of mustard seed low in erucic acid have been cultivated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mustard plant</span> Flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae used for mustard

The mustard plant is any one of several plant species in the genera Brassica, Rhamphospermum and Sinapis in the family Brassicaceae. Mustard seed is used as a spice. Grinding and mixing the seeds with water, vinegar, or other liquids creates the yellow condiment known as prepared mustard. The seeds can also be pressed to make mustard oil, and the edible leaves can be eaten as mustard greens. Many vegetables are cultivated varieties of mustard plants; domestication may have begun 6,000 years ago.

<i>Brassica juncea</i> Species of flowering plant

Brassica juncea, commonly brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, Korean green mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard, is a species of mustard plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White mustard</span> Species of flowering plant

White mustard is an annual plant of the family Brassicaceae. It is sometimes also referred to as Brassica alba or B. hirta. Grown for its seeds, it is used to make the condiment mustard, as a fodder crop, or as a green manure. It is now widespread worldwide, although it probably originated in the Mediterranean region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinigrin</span> Chemical compound

Sinigrin or allyl glucosinolate is a glucosinolate that belongs to the family of glucosides found in some plants of the family Brassicaceae such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and the seeds of black mustard. Whenever sinigrin-containing plant tissue is crushed or otherwise damaged, the enzyme myrosinase degrades sinigrin to a mustard oil, which is responsible for the pungent taste of mustard and horseradish. Seeds of white mustard, Sinapis alba, give a less pungent mustard because this species contains a different glucosinolate, sinalbin.

<i>Rhamphospermum arvense</i> Species of plant

Rhamphospermum arvense, the charlock mustard, field mustard, wild mustard, or just charlock, is an annual or winter annual plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is found in the fields of North Africa, Asia, Europe, and some other areas where it has been transported and naturalized. Pieris rapae, the small white butterfly, and Pieris napi, the green veined white butterfly, are significant consumers of charlock during their larval stages.

<i>Hyaloperonospora brassicae</i> Species of single-celled organism

Hyaloperonospora brassicae, in the family Peronosporaceae, is a plant pathogen. It causes downy mildew of species of Brassica, Raphanus, Sinapis and probably other genera within the Brassicaceae. In the past, the cause of downy mildew in any plant in the family Brassicaceae was considered to be a single species Peronospora parasitica. However, this has recently been shown to be a complex of species with narrower host ranges, now classified in the genus Hyaloperonospora, for example Hyaloperonospora parasitica on the weed Capsella bursa-pastoris. From the perspective of plant pathology, Hyaloperonospora brassicae is now the name of the most important pathogen in this complex, attacking the major agricultural and horticultural Brassica species. Other significant Brassicaceous hosts are attacked by different species in the complex, e.g. horseradish by Hyaloperonospora cochleariae, wallflower by Hyaloperonospora cheiranthi.

<i>Eruca vesicaria</i> Edible annual plant

Rocket, eruca, or arugula is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used as a leaf vegetable for its fresh, tart, bitter, and peppery flavor. Its other common names include garden rocket, as well as colewort, roquette, ruchetta, rucola, rucoli, and rugula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinalbin</span> Chemical compound

Sinalbin is a glucosinolate found in the seeds of white mustard, Sinapis alba, and in many wild plant species. In contrast to mustard from black mustard seeds which contain sinigrin, mustard from white mustard seeds has only a weakly pungent taste.

<i>Hirschfeldia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Hirschfeldia incana is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by many common names, including shortpod mustard, buchanweed, hoary mustard and Mediterranean mustard. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Hirschfeldia, which is closely related to Brassica. The species is native to the Mediterranean Basin but it can be found in many parts of the world as an introduced species and often a very abundant noxious weed. This mustard is very similar in appearance to black mustard, but is generally shorter. It forms a wide basal rosette of lobed leaves which lie flat on the ground, and it keeps its leaves while flowering. Its stem and foliage have soft white hairs. Unlike black mustard, H. incana is a perennial plant.

<i>Brassica carinata</i> Species of plant in the family Brassicaceae

Brassica carinata is a species of flowering plant in the Brassicaceae family. It is referred to by the common names Ethiopian rape or Ethiopian mustard. It is believed to be a hybrid between Brassica nigra and Brassica oleracea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarson ka saag</span> South Asian dish

Sarson ka saag, also known as sarsa ka saag, is a dish of mustard greens cooked with spices. It originated in the north of the Indian subcontinent and is popular throughout the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mustard (condiment)</span> Condiment made from mustard seeds

Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant.

<i>Brassica elongata</i> Species of flowering plant

Brassica elongata, the elongated mustard or long-stalked rape, is a species of the mustard plant that is native to parts of Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, the Caucasus, Morocco and parts of Central Asia. Through plant invasion this species has become naturalized in many other parts of the world. Some of these naturalized regions include South Africa, North Western Europe, Australia and North America. Given the wide range of climate and ecological conditions of these regions, B. elongata has been able to disrupt the ecosystems of their native plant habitats and has been label as an invasive species in many of its naturalized zones. In North America, this species is often found as a roadside weed in the southwestern states, particularly in the state of Nevada. Studies allude that the Cruciferae might have migrated through the Bering land bridge from what is now Central Asia. Commonly known as the long-stalked rape or as langtraubiger Kohl in German, this species is a close cousin to Brassica napus (rapeseed) and a secondary genetic relative to B. oleracea (kale). As a close genetic species of the rapeseed, the long-stalked rape has one of the highest counts of accumulated polyunsaturated linoleic and linolenic acid. Both compounds are heavily used to manufacture vegetable oils. Brassica elongata has the propagative potential of turning into a horticultural product from what is currently a noxious weed.

<i>Psylliodes chrysocephala</i> Species of beetle

Psylliodes chrysocephala or Psylliodes chrysocephalus, commonly known as the cabbage-stem flea beetle, is a species of leaf beetle situated in the subfamily Galerucinae and the tribe Alticini.

References

  1. 1 2 "Rhamphospermum nigrum (L.) Al-Shehbaz". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  2. David Chapman (2008). Exploring the Cornish Coast. Penzance: Alison Hodge. p. 104. ISBN   9780906720561.
  3. Al-Shehbaz, Ihsan A. (2021). "Nomenclatural Adjustments in Eutrema, Ceratocnemum, Rhamphospermum, and Sinapis (Brassicaceae, Cruciferae)". Harvard Papers in Botany. 26. doi:10.3100/hpib.v26iss1.2021.n1. S2CID   235769737.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain. Reader's Digest. 1981. p. 41. ISBN   9780276002175.
  5. New England Botany
  6. 1 2 Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. p. 100. ISBN   978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC   244766414.
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  8. "Brassicaceae Brassica nigra (L.) W.D.J.Koch". ipni.org. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  9. Allen J. Coombes The A to Z of Plant Names: A Quick Reference Guide to 4000 Garden Plants , p. 241, at Google Books
  10. D. Gledhill The Names of Plants , p. 273, at Google Books
  11. 1 2 "Taxon: Brassica nigra (L.) W. D. J. Koch". ars-grin.gov. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  12. Panzar, Javier (25 April 2019). "This super bloom is pretty dangerous: Invasive mustard is fuel for the next fire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  13. "black mustard Brassica nigra". Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System. The University of Georgia - Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  14. O'Sullivan, Eve (17 February 2014). "How to cook with mustard seeds". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  15. "Mustard Seeds / Rai / Sarson". food-india.com. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  16. Mejia-Garibay, B.; Palou, E.; Guerrero-Beltrán, J. A.; López-Malo, A. (June 2015). "Physical and antioxidant characteristics of black (Brassica nigra) and yellow mustard (Brassica alba) seeds and their products". Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición. 65 (2): 128–35. PMID   26817385.
  17. Borah, Plavaneeta (30 November 2016). "8 Incredible Mustard Oil Benefits That Make It So Popular". ndtv.com. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  18. Zemede Asfaw, "Conservation and use of traditional vegetables in Ethiopia" Archived 2012-07-07 at the Wayback Machine , Proceedings of the IPGRI International Workshop on Genetic Resources of Traditional Vegetables in Africa (Nairobi, 29–31 August 1995)
  19. Post, George Edward (1900). "Mustard". In James Hastings (ed.). A Dictionary of the Bible .