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Annual Bastard Cabbage / Turnipweed (Rapistrum rugosum): Invasive Mustard with Yellow Flowers

Annual bastard cabbage plant

Annual bastard cabbage flowers

Annual bastard cabbage pods

Annual bastard cabbage habit

Overview

Annual bastard cabbage (Rapistrum rugosum), also called common giant mustard or turnipweed, is an invasive annual weed native to the Mediterranean, now widespread in disturbed areas, roadsides, and fields in North America. It grows 1-3 feet tall with lobed, basal leaves and racemes of bright yellow, four-petaled flowers, followed by distinctive, wrinkled, two-segmented seed pods.

Botanical Details

Family: Brassicaceae (mustard family)
Genus: Rapistrum
Species: rugosum
Synonyms: Myagrum rugosum, Rapistrum rugosum subsp. orientale

Management & Concerns

Highly competitive; displaces native vegetation. Early detection and removal critical. Pull before seed set; seeds persist in soil. Herbicides effective in rosette stage. Do not compost flowering plants. Edible young leaves (bitter, mustardy) but not recommended due to invasive potential. Report infestations to local authorities.

Herbs: Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica): Nutritious Weed with a Sting; French Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus): The Culinary King of Herbs; English Thyme (Thymus vulgaris): The Classic Culinary Thyme for Every Herb Garden; St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum): Famous Medicinal Herb with Perforated Leaves; Tricolor Sage (Salvia officinalis 'Tricolor'): Variegated Foliage for Herb Gardens and Containers; Common Barberry (Berberis vulgaris): Thorny Shrub with Tart Berries; Common Sage 'Berggarten' (Salvia officinalis 'Berggarten'): Broad-Leaved Culinary Sage; Giant Catmint 'Dawn to Dusk' (Nepeta grandiflora 'Dawn to Dusk'): Long-Blooming Pollinator Perennial; Northern Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum americanum): Aromatic, Thorny Shrub for Wildlife and Numbing Spice; Purple Sage 'Purpurescens' (Salvia officinalis 'Purpurescens'): Purple-Leaved Culinary Sage for Ornamental Herb Gardens

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