Brassicaceae species

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:05 pm

Here come some species where I am almost certain my identifications are correct.

We have four more or less common Sisymbrium species in Denmark. S. irio is very rare, and I have never seen it myself. But I think this one could be S. irio.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:06 pm

Same specimen with focus on leaves.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:09 pm

Flora Europaea only knows of ssp. incana and ssp. rupestris. I guess this is ssp. melitensis. How does this subspecies differ?

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:11 pm

Same specimen, a closer look.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:15 pm

This one I found in many places, and I think it must be Lobularia, which I know from gardens in Denmark.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:16 pm

Close-up of same species.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:19 pm

I have never seen a Biscutella species before. It is beautiful. Are there more than one species of this genus in Malta?

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:21 pm

I have never seen Diplotaxis erucoides before. I think the next three pics must be it, but I am not sure.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:23 pm

No. 2

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:27 pm

No. 3

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:31 pm

I know Diplotaxis muralis very well from Denmark, and D. tenuifolia I have only seen a few times.

I was sure though that I had taken pics of both species in Malta, but now I realize that all my pics are almost certainly of D. tenuifolia. Here are three specimens.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:32 pm

No. 2

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:33 pm

No. 3

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:40 pm

Brassica napus ssp. oleifera colours many of the fields yellow in Denmark at the moment. Flora Europaea reports that there are numerous different classifications of Brassica napus cultivars. I first found out about this when I was back in Denmark. So next time I will maybe have to take more pics for precise identification.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:43 pm

Not sure if I got the subspecies correct.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:47 pm

Hirschfeldia incana is very rare in Denmark. But I really cannot think of other species looking just like it. Three pics.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:48 pm

No. 2

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:49 pm

No. 3

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:58 pm

In Denmark we have two subspecies of Cakile maritima. According to Flora Europaea there are only one subspecies in Malta.

But I think that the specimen in the first pic with clearly pinnatisect leaves, looks very different from the specimens in pic 2 and 3. Do any of the local floras recognize more subspecies from Malta?

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:59 pm

No. 2

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:01 pm

No. 3. Leaves are much more fleshy than in the first pic.

Post by **MWP admin** » Sun May 10, 2009 9:09 pm

I have not studied the Cakile subspecies, but the old records mention subsp. maritima, and another one which (I assume from the epithet) should have entire leaves, hence the subsp. integrifolia. I will check what Flora Europae and Flora d'Italia says in regards and perhaps do a small visit to Ramla Hamra Gozo and see what I find.

I would not be surprised if recentely these subsp. based on the shape of the leaf have been all lumped to a singular taxon - that is Cakile maritima.

Post by **MWP admin** » Sun May 10, 2009 9:16 pm

John, according to guidlines of good practice of this forum, please submit one species / ID case per post otherwise there will be a big confusuon !

Do you have other images of Brassica napus. I think I and many others here have always overlooked these as the common B. rapa, without paying attention to the leaves/fruit structures

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Mon May 11, 2009 2:37 pm

From now on I will upload one species at a time as you suggest.

About Brassica napus ssp. oleifera

1.
I gave a wrong information. As a matter of fact it is Brassica napus ssp. napus which colours the Danish countryside yellow at the moment.

2.
Concerning the specimen in the picture I was so sure, it was Brassica napus and not Brassica rapa ssp. sylvestris, because the specimen was about 80 cm high and with many branches.
Now I finally realize that the specimen could just as well be Brassica rapa ssp. oleifera which is larger than ssp. sylvestris.

Anyway, I have no further pictures of this specimen. So I make a note to myself about not taking anything for granted and about taking more pictures even of specimens I think I know for sure.

This again tells me how important it is to upload pics of species where I only have a slight doubt about my idenfication, because the identification could be so wrong now and then.

John Holst · Post by **John Holst** » Mon May 11, 2009 3:23 pm

I cannot delete a post, so this is what the former post should have said:

About Cakile maritima:

It is the specimen in the first picture (from Bisqra) that I think differs a lot from the other specimens. Unfortunately, when I took that pic in March there were no siliculas present.

Ssp. baltica is very common in Denmark, and when I took the picture at Bisqra, I thought it was ssp. baltica.

But since the shape of the leaves is only indicative and I have no silicula pic, I had to identify the Bisqra specimen as ssp. aegyptiaca which is the only subspecies Flora Europaea records from Malta.

Once again the lesson is that I should forget about Danish species and concentrate on what I see and take lots of pictures.

IL-PINE · Post by **IL-PINE** » Mon May 11, 2009 9:18 pm

The Sisymbrium is definitely S.irio - it is very common everywhere in Malta and is the commonest of the I think 5 recorded species in Malta.

Matthiola incana melitensis seems to differ in being always perennial with a stout stem and spoon shaped leaves. this is one species that I am doubtful about being different from the continental ones.

Lobularia maritima is ok - it is also very common.

Biscutella didyma is the only one really found in Malta (there are 4 subspecies recorded), I saw it only once.

Diplotaxis erucoides and D. tenuifolia are very common everywhere and are the among the most common Brassicaceae seen. D. muralis was recorded in the past and probably has disappeared since as it has not been recorded recently.

Sinapis and Hirschfeldia are correct and are both common.

Cakile ssp. I give up!

Regarding the Brassica - as Stephen said we always make the mistake of identifying everything as Brassica rapa sylvestris. You are probably correct.