{{short description|Species of plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Kleine zandkool R0013711.JPG |genus = Diplotaxis (plant) |species = muralis |authority = (L.) DC. |synonyms = ''Sisymbrium murale'' }}

'''''Diplotaxis muralis''''', the '''annual wall-rocket''', is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. This plant is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, but it is found throughout the temperate world, where it has naturalized. This is an erect mustard-like plant rarely reaching half a meter in height. It has lobed leaves and its stems are topped with dense inflorescences of yellow, or occasionally light purple, flowers with small oval petals and large anthers. The fruit is a podlike silique two to four centimeters long.

==Description== It is an annual, but sometimes grows as a perennial,<ref name="efloras">{{cite web|title=FOC Vol. 8 Page 24|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200009415|publisher=efloras.org|accessdate=11 November 2017}}</ref> growing up to {{convert|15|-|60|cm|abbr=on}} tall on unbranched stems.<ref name=Readers>{{cite book |year=1981 |title=Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain |page=43 |publisher=Reader's Digest |isbn=9780276002175}}</ref> It has lobed leaves, which form a rosette at the base of the plant. They are {{convert|2|-|9|cm|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1|-|3|cm|abbr=on}} wide.<ref name="efloras"/> It blooms in summer, between May and September in the UK,<ref name=Readers/> and between April and August in China.<ref name="efloras"/> The flowers are yellow, with oblong sepals and longer, obovate petals.<ref name="efloras"/> Later, it produces a fruit capsule, long cylindrical with a short beak.<ref name=Readers/> It contains 2 rows of yellow brown seeds,<ref name=Readers/> which are ovoid or ellipsoid shaped.<ref name="efloras"/>

==Taxonomy== ''D. muralis'' was first published by Augustin Candolle in Syst. Nat. Vol.2 on page 634 in 1821, based on an earlier description by Carl Linnaeus.<ref name="plantlist">{{cite web|title=Diplotaxis muralis (L.) DC. is an accepted name|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2771304|website=23 March 2012|publisher=theplantlist.org|accessdate=10 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Brassicaceae Diplotaxis muralis DC.|url=http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=282204-1|publisher=ipni.org|accessdate=10 November 2017}}</ref> Linnaeus had named it 'Sisymbrium murale' in his seminal publication 'Species Plantarum' in 1753.<ref name="efloras"/>

There are two known subspecies; * ''Diplotaxis muralis'' subsp. ''ceratophylla'' <small>(Batt.) Mart.-Laborde</small> * ''Diplotaxis muralis'' subsp. ''simplex'' <small>(Viv.) Jafri</small><ref name="plantlist"/>

The Latin specific epithet ''muralis'' is interpreted as 'growing on walls'.<ref>Archibald William Smith {{google books|ahNMkgoNJ7IC|A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names: Their Meanings and Origins|page=160}}</ref> ''D. muralis'' is commonly known as 'annual wall-rocket' or 'wall rocket', in the UK,<ref>F.H.Perring, P.D.Sell and S.M.Walters{{google books|8N85AAAAIAAJ|A Flora of Cambridgeshire|page=54}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Diplotaxis muralis wall rocket|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/105533/Diplotaxis-muralis/Details|publisher=rhs.org.uk|accessdate=11 November 2017}}</ref> as it can be found growing on old walls, and is similar in form to wall rocket (''Diplotaxis tenuifolia ''), which is taller and bushier.<ref name=Readers/>

Several cytological and morphological studies have suggested that ''D. muralis'' originated from natural hybridization between ''D. tenuifolia'' and ''D. viminea''.<ref>{{cite journal| pmid=16547870 | doi=10.1055/s-2005-873050 | volume=8 | title=Evidence from photosynthetic characteristics for the hybrid origin of Diplotaxis muralis from a C3-C4 intermediate and a C3 species | year=2006 | journal=Plant Biol (Stuttg) | pages=253–9 | last1 = Ueno | first1 = O | last2 = Wada | first2 = Y | last3 = Wakai | first3 = M | last4 = Bang | first4 = SW| issue=2 }}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat== It is native to temperate regions of North Africa, Europe and parts of western Asia.<ref name="brc"/><ref name="Grin">{{cite web|title=Taxon: Diplotaxis muralis (L.) DC.|url=https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=319694|publisher=ars-grin.gov|accessdate=10 November 2017}}</ref>

===Range=== It is found in North Africa, within Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, in addition to Ethiopia in East Africa. Within Asia it is found in the Caucasus, Georgia (country) and Turkey. In middle Europe, it is in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. In southeastern Europe, within Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Also in southwestern Europe, it is found in France, Portugal and Spain.<ref name="Grin"/>

It has naturalised in the UK since 1778, when it was found in a field of oats raised from imported seeds from a ship wrecked on the Kent coast.<ref name="brc"/>

===Habitat=== It grows in waste and disturbed ground,<ref name=Readers/> such as beside railways, roads and on tips.<ref name="brc">{{cite web|title=Diplotaxis muralis|url=https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/diplotaxis-muralis|publisher=brc.ac.uk|accessdate=11 November 2017}}</ref>

==Ecology== It is pollinated by bees and other flying insects.<ref name=Readers/> It is occasionally cultivated and ploughed into fields as a 'green manure'.<ref name="brc"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?2240,2422,2423 Jepson Manual Treatment] *[https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=DIMU2 USDA Plants Profile] *[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Diplotaxis+muralis Photo gallery]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q159643}}

muralis Category:Flora of North Africa Category:Flora of Ethiopia Category:Flora of Europe Category:Flora of the Caucasus Category:Flora of Turkey Category:Plants described in 1821 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus