# Diplotaxis muralis

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Diplotaxis_muralis
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Diplotaxis_muralis.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplotaxis_muralis
> Source revision: 1306379768
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Kleine zandkool R0013711.JPG
|genus = Diplotaxis (plant)
|species = muralis
|authority = ([L.](/source/Carl_Linnaeus)) [DC.](/source/A._P._de_Candolle)
|synonyms = ''Sisymbrium murale''
}}

'''''Diplotaxis muralis''''', the '''annual wall-rocket''', is a species of flowering plant in the family [Brassicaceae](/source/Brassicaceae). This plant is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, but it is found throughout the [temperate](/source/temperate) world, where it has [naturalized](/source/Introduced_species). 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 [inflorescence](/source/inflorescence)s of yellow, or occasionally light purple, flowers with small oval petals and large [anthers](/source/stamen). The fruit is a podlike [silique](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/A._P._de_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](/source/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](/source/Botanical_name) ''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](/source/Cytology) and morphological studies have suggested that ''D. muralis'' originated from [natural hybridization](/source/Hybridization_(biology)) between ''[D. tenuifolia](/source/Diplotaxis_tenuifolia)'' and ''[D. viminea](/source/Diplotaxis_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](/source/native_plant) 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](/source/Algeria), [Libya](/source/Libya), [Morocco](/source/Morocco) and [Tunisia](/source/Tunisia), in addition to [Ethiopia](/source/Ethiopia) in East Africa. Within Asia it is found in the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus), [Georgia (country)](/source/Georgia_(country)) and [Turkey](/source/Turkey). In middle Europe, it is in [Austria](/source/Austria), [Belgium](/source/Belgium), [Czech Republic](/source/Czech_Republic), [Germany](/source/Germany), [Hungary](/source/Hungary), the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands), [Poland](/source/Poland), [Slovakia](/source/Slovakia) and [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland). In southeastern Europe, within [Albania](/source/Albania), [Bosnia and Herzegovina](/source/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina), [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria), [Croatia](/source/Croatia), [Greece](/source/Greece), [Italy](/source/Italy), [Malta](/source/Malta), [Montenegro](/source/Montenegro), [North Macedonia](/source/North_Macedonia), [Romania](/source/Romania), [Serbia](/source/Serbia), [Slovenia](/source/Slovenia) and [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine). Also in southwestern Europe, it is found in [France](/source/France), [Portugal](/source/Portugal) and [Spain](/source/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](/source/Kent) coast.<ref name="brc"/>

===Habitat===
It grows in waste and [disturbed ground](/source/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 [plough](/source/plough)ed into fields as a '[green manure](/source/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

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Diplotaxis muralis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplotaxis_muralis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplotaxis_muralis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.