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 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Brassicaceae |
| Genus: | Eruca Mill. |
| Species | |
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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]
Varieties can be either annual or biennial, 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 4-petal, 4-sepal 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
edit- ^ Med-Checklist: Eruca
- ^ Med-Checklist: Eruca vesicaria aggregate
- ^ Flora of China: Eruca
- ^ Flora Europaea: Eruca
- ^ Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2
- ^ Flora of NW Europe: Eruca vesicaria Archived 2007-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
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