{{Short description|Species of plant}} {{Use British English|date=September 2025}} {{redirect|Charlock|the fictitious castle featured in video games|Dragon Quest}} {{Speciesbox |image = Brassicaceae - Sinapis arvensis (3).JPG |genus = Rhamphospermum |species = arvense |authority = (L.) Andrz. ex Besser |synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO_288569-1" >{{cite POWO |id=288569-1 |title=''Rhamphospermum arvense'' (L.) Andrz. ex Besser |access-date=27 May 2023 }}</ref> |synonyms = See {{ Slink || Synonyms }} }}
'''''Rhamphospermum arvense''''', (syns. ''Brassica arvensis'' and ''Sinapis arvensis'') the '''charlock''', sometimes also called '''field mustard''', '''wild mustard''', or '''charlock mustard''', is an annual or winter annual plant in the family Brassicaceae.<ref name="POWO_288569-1" /> It is found in the fields of North Africa, Asia, Europe, and some other areas where it has been transported and naturalised. ''Pieris rapae'', the small white butterfly, and ''Pieris napi'', the green veined white butterfly, are significant consumers of charlock during their larval stages.
==Description== thumb|Seedpods thumb|Seeds Charlock reaches on average {{cvt|20|-|100|cm|0}} in height, but under optimal conditions can exceed one metre. The stems are erect, branched or unbranched, striated, with coarse spreading hairs especially near the base.<ref name="Streeter">{{cite book | last=Streeter | first=David | title=Flower Guide | publisher=Collins | publication-place=London | date=2010 | isbn=978-0-00-718389-0 | page=208}}</ref><ref name=Readers>{{cite book |year=1981 |title=Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain |page=42 |publisher=Reader's Digest |isbn=978-0-276-00217-5}}</ref> The leaves are petiolate (stalked) with a {{cvt|1|-|4|cm|1}} petiole. The basal leaves are oblong, oval, lanceolate, lyrate, pinnatifid to dentate, {{cvt|4|-|18|cm|1}} long, {{cvt|2|-|5|cm|1}} wide. The cauline leaves are much reduced and are short petiolate to sessile but not auriculate-clasping. It blooms from May to September, or May to August, in the UK.<ref name="plantlife">{{cite web |title=Charlock ''Sinapis arvensis'' |url=https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/charlock |publisher=plantlife.org.uk |access-date=9 November 2017 |archive-date=6 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706095956/https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/charlock |url-status=dead }}</ref> The inflorescence is a raceme made up of yellow flowers having four petals 6–13 mm long, with spreading sepals just over half the length of the petals.<ref name="Streeter"/><ref name="plantlife"/><ref>Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. ''Webb's An Irish Flora'' {{ISBN|978-185918-4783}}</ref> The fruit is a silique 2.5–5 cm long with a beak 0.7–2 cm long that is flattened-quadrangular. The valves of the silique are glabrous or rarely bristly, three to five nerved. The seeds are dark red or brown,<ref name="Streeter"/><ref name=Readers/> smooth 1-1.5 mm in diameter.
===Phytochemistry=== It contains chemicals of the class glucosinolates, including sinalbin.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Popova |first1=I.E. |last2=Morra |first2=M.J. |title=Simultaneous quantification of sinigrin, sinalbin, and anionic glucosinolate hydrolysis products in ''Brassica juncea'' and ''Sinapis alba'' seed extracts using ion chromatography |journal=J Agric Food Chem |date=5 November 2014 |volume=62 |issue=44 |pages=10687–93 |doi=10.1021/jf503755m |pmid=25314611}}</ref> The seeds contain a plant hormone, gibberellic acid, which effects the dormancy of the seeds.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Miriam |title=Dormancy in Seeds of Charlock (''Sinapis arvensis'' L.) |journal=Plant Physiol. |date=1976 |volume=58 |issue=5 |pages=626–630 |doi=10.1104/pp.58.5.626 |pmc=542271 |pmid=16659732}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== It was formally described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his seminal publication 'Species Plantarum' on page 668 in 1753.<ref name="plantlist">{{cite web |title=''Sinapis arvensis'' L. is an accepted name |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2476411 |date=23 March 2012 |publisher=theplantlist.org |access-date=9 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brassicaceae ''Sinapis arvensis'' L. |url=http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=288960-1 |publisher=ipni.org |access-date=9 November 2017}}</ref>
It is commonly known as '''charlock''',<ref name="Streeter"/><ref name="plantlife"/><ref name="PlantAtlas">{{cite web | title=Charlock ''Sinapis arvensis'' L. | website=PlantAtlas | url=https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.99f | access-date=2025-09-16}}</ref> or sometimes as '''charlock mustard''',<ref>{{PLANTS|id=SIAR4|taxon=''Sinapis arvensis''|access-date=15 November 2015}}</ref> '''field mustard''',<ref name="wildfood">{{cite web |title=Wild Mustard |url=http://www.wildfooduk.com/hedgerow-food-guide/wild-mustard-hedgerow/ |publisher=wildfooduk.com |access-date=9 November 2017 |archive-date=10 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110114347/http://www.wildfooduk.com/hedgerow-food-guide/wild-mustard-hedgerow/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> or '''wild mustard'''.<ref name="Grin"/>
===Synonyms=== {{Collapsible list| *''Brassica arvensis'' {{small|(L.) Rabenh.}} *''Brassica arvensis'' var. ''orientalis'' {{small|(L.) Farw.}} *''Brassica arvensis'' var. ''schkuhriana'' {{small|(Rchb.) Thell.}} *''Brassica barbareifolia'' {{small|Ball}} *''Brassica kaber'' {{small|(DC.) Wheeler}} *''Brassica kaber'' var. ''orientalis'' {{small|(L.) Scoggan}} *''Brassica kaber'' var. ''pinnatifida'' {{small|(Stokes) L.C.Wheeler}} *''Brassica kaber'' var. ''schkuhriana'' {{small|(Rchb.) L.C.Wheeler}} *''Brassica kaber'' var. ''stricta'' {{small|(Čelak.) Shinners}} *''Brassica mesopotamica'' {{small|(Spreng.) Bernh.}} *''Brassica nigra'' var. ''villosa'' {{small|(Mérat) Alef.}} *''Brassica sinapis'' {{small|Vis.}} *''Brassica sinapistrum'' {{small|Boiss.}} *''Brassica sinapistrum'' f. ''brachycarpa'' {{small|N.Busch}} *''Brassica sinapistrum'' var. ''orientalis'' {{small|Samp.}} *''Brassica sinapistrum'' proles ''schkuhriana'' {{small|(Rchb.) Samp.}} *''Brassica sinapistrum'' var. ''schkuhriana'' {{small|(Rchb.) Samp.}} *''Brassica sinapistrum'' var. ''siliqua-hirsuta'' {{small|Boiss.}} *''Brassica xinjiangensis'' {{small|Y.C.Lan & T.Y.Cheo}} *''Crucifera sinapistra'' {{small|E.H.L.Krause}} *''Napus agriasinapis'' {{small|K.F.Schimp. & Spenn.}} *''Raphanus arvensis'' {{small|(L.) Crantz}} *''Raphanus orientalis'' {{small|(L.) Crantz}} *''Raphanus turgidus'' {{small|Pers.}} *''Rhamphospermum orientale'' {{small|(L.) Andrz.}} *''Sinapis allionii'' {{small|Jacq.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' {{small|L.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' subsp. ''allionii'' {{small|(Jacq.) Baillarg.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''ambigua'' {{small|Hartm.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' subsp. ''dasycarpa'' {{small|(Neilr.) Arcang.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''divaricata'' {{small|O.E.Schulz}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''longistylosa'' {{small|Sennen}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''mesopotamica'' {{small|(Spreng.) Boiss.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' f. ''orientalis'' {{small|(L.) D.Löve & J.-P.Bernard}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' subsp. ''orientalis'' {{small|(L.) Bonnier}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''orientalis'' {{small|(L.) W.D.J.Koch & Ziz}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''pinnatifida'' {{small|Stokes}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''retrohirsuta'' {{small|Bab.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''schkuhriana'' {{small|(Rchb.) Hagenb.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''stricta'' {{small|Čelak.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''vera'' {{small|Bab.}} *''Sinapis arvensis'' var. ''villosa'' {{small|(Mérat) Rouy & Foucaud}} *''Sinapis hispida'' {{small|Balb.}} *''Sinapis incana'' {{small|Thuill.}} *''Sinapis kaber'' {{small|DC.}} *''Sinapis mesopotamica'' {{small|Spreng.}} *''Sinapis nigra'' var. ''villosa'' {{small|(Mérat) DC.}} *''Sinapis orientalis'' {{small|L.}} *''Sinapis polymorpha'' {{small|Geners. ex Schult.}} *''Sinapis retrohirsuta'' {{small|Besser ex Steud.}} *''Sinapis retrohispida'' {{small|Boreau}} *''Sinapis schkuhriana'' {{small|Rchb.}} *''Sinapis schlosseri'' {{small|Heuff. ex Nyman}} *''Sinapis taurica'' {{small|Fisch.}} *''Sinapis torosa'' {{small|Gilib.}} *''Sinapis turgida'' {{small|(Pers.) Delile}} *''Sinapis villosa'' {{small|Mérat}} *''Sinapistrum arvense'' {{small|(L.) Spach}} }}
===Etymology=== The former generic name ''Sinapis'' derives from the Greek word ''sinapi'' meaning 'mustard' and was the old name used by Theophrastus for any mustard. The specific epithet ''arvense'' is a Latin adjective meaning 'from/of the field'.<ref>Archibald William Smith {{google books |ahNMkgoNJ7IC |A Gardener's Handbook of Plant Names: Their Meanings and Origins |page=46}}</ref><ref>Gledhill D. 1985. ''The Names of Plants''. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0521366755}}</ref>
==Distribution== A native of the Mediterranean basin, from temperate regions of North Africa, Europe and parts of Asia. It has also become naturalised throughout much of North America, South America, Australia, Japan and South Africa.<ref name="Grin">{{cite web |title=Taxon: ''Sinapis arvensis'' L. |url=https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=33965 |publisher=ars-grin.gov |access-date=9 November 2017}}</ref>
===Range=== It is found in North Africa, within Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Within Asia, it is found in Arabian Peninsula (in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Caucasus, China, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Siberia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is also found in tropical Pakistan. In eastern Europe, it is found within Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine. In middle Europe, it is in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. In northern Europe, in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden 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, Portugal and Spain.<ref name="Grin"/>
==Habitat== It grows in the plains and mountains, in pastures, fields, roadsides, waste places (such as railways, tips, and waste ground<ref name="plantlife"/>), and ruins, but mainly in cultivated places.<ref name=Readers/> It prefers calcareous soils in sunny places, at an altitude of {{cvt|0|-|1400|m|ft|-2}} above sea level.
==Ecology== The flowers are pollinated by various bees like ''Andrena agilissima'' and flies (entomophily). ''Rhamphospermum arvense'' is the host plant of the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, such as the small white, ''Pieris rapae''. The seeds are toxic to most animals, except birds, and can cause gastrointestinal problems, especially if consumed in large quantities.
It is a highly invasive species in states such as California.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plant Assessment Form ''Sinapis arvensis'' |url=http://www.cal-ipc.org/plants/paf/sinapis-arvensis-plant-assessment-form/ |website=7 August 2005 |publisher=cal-ipc.org |access-date=9 November 2017 |date=2017-10-03}}</ref>
==Uses== Charlock leaves are edible at the juvenile stage of the plant;<ref name="wildfood"/> they are usually boiled,<ref name="plantlife"/> such as in 18th century, in Dublin, where it was sold in the streets.<ref name=Readers/> During the Great Famine of Ireland, wild mustard was a common famine food, even though it often caused stomach upset.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArU5DwAAQBAJ&q=charlock+famine&pg=PT104 |title=The Little Book of Fermanagh |first=Doreen |last=McBride |date=8 February 2018 |publisher=History Press |via=Google Books |isbn=978-0-7509-8540-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/greatfamineirish00arth |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/greatfamineirish00arth/page/31 31] |title=The Great Famine and the Irish Diaspora in America |first=Arthur |last=Gribben |date=1 March 1999 |publisher=Univ of Massachusetts Press |via=Internet Archive |isbn=1-55849-173-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sources.nli.ie/Record/PS_UR_061058 |title=Holdings: Nettles and charlock as famine food. |website=sources.nli.ie |year=1959}}</ref> Once the seeds are ground, they produce a kind of mustard.<ref name="wildfood"/>
A type of oil can be extracted from the seed which has been used for lubricating machinery.<ref name="plantlife"/>
== As ruminant feed == Grazing charlock at growing and flowering stages is harmless for cattle and sheep. Poisoning can occur in the same animals when fed with older seed-bearing plants. This can occur when wild mustard grows as a weed in green-fed rapeseed or cereals. Accidental consumption of charlock oil can also be the cause of reported intoxications.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gustav Rosenberger |title=Krankheiten des Rindes |publisher=Verlag Paul Parey |location=Berlin and Hamburg |edition=1st |year=1970 |isbn=3-489-55716-6 |pages=1271–1272 (''Sinapis'' poisoning)}}</ref> <gallery> Hôteur rabrouxhe efant.jpg|Plant more than 1 metre tall Gades ezès snés Djebel Xheder.jpg|Goats grazing in mountain pasture with charlock Tchamp plin d' siné dilé Feddala.jpg|Fallow dominated by charlock Siné grinnes mierplante.jpg|Individual mature plant Siné grinnes bohêye.jpg|Potentially toxic mature plants </gallery>
==See also== *''Sinapis alba'', known as "yellow mustard" or "white mustard"
==References== {{Reflist}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060516214609/http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/pmis/plants/html/sinapis_.html Environmental Library of the US Army Corps Engineers] *Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C., 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore *Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia – Edagricole – 1982. Vol. I, pag. 473
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q115124584|from2=Q27986|from3=Q38547466}}
arvense Category:Flora of North Africa Category:Flora of temperate Asia Category:Flora of Europe Category:Plants described in 1822