Brassica rapa

English: Wild Turnip - Turnip Rape - Field Mustard - Turnip - Turnip Mustard
Nederlands: Raapzaad
Español: Nabo - Nabo silvestre - Nabo salvaje - Mostacilla
Français: Navette
Deutsch: Rübsen - Rübsamen - Rübsaat

Family: Brassicaceae - Cabbage family
Flowering time: April-August (again in autumn)
Height: 30-80cm
Altitude:
Colour: pale yellow
Flower: open flowers overtopping the buds
Leaves: basal leaves bright green, bristly; upper leaves grey
Habitat: roadsides, arable land, waste places, banks of streams, ditches
Distribution: Brassica rapa is thought to have originated in Europe







Notes:  Brassica rapa is a native wild plant in the Netherlands, but here like in other countries cultivated for its oil-rich seeds and vegetables. From Brassica rapa various interrelated vegetable varieties have been developed, including turnips, bok choi, pak choi and napa cabbage. Wild Turnip is host for the larvae of a number of moths and butterflies: Silver Y (Autographa gamma) Evergestis pallidata, Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicae), Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba), Large White (Pieris brassicae), Green-veined White (Pieris napi) and Small White (Pieris rapae).

Related key words: Kralingse Bos Rotterdam, Ackerdijkse plassen, butterfly, insect, raapzaadolie