Common name: Rape, Coleseed, Swede, Rutabaga
Brassica x napus L. APNI* Synonyms: Brassica x napus L. sensu Entwisle (1996) APNI*
Brassica napus L. APNI*
Description: Annual or biennial. Taproot robust, often tuberous. Stems erect to 1.5 m high, herbaceous.
Basal leaf scars inconspicuous, glabrous. Leaves scarcely fleshy, glaucous; lower leaves petiolate to 40 cm long, deeply lobed, with a large terminal lobe and smaller lateral ones, sparsely bristly; upper leaves sessile, oblong-lanceolate, base broadened, clasping around more than half of stem.
Inflorescence with buds overtopping (rarely equalling) flowers. Sepals inclined, 5–7 mm long; petals 11–14 mm long, pale yellow; outer stamens with filaments curved outwards at base; ovary sessile.
Fruit ascending, 4–10 cm long (including beak), 2–4 mm wide, quadrangular (valves flattened between midrib and margin); beak 5–30 mm long; pedicel 15–20 mm long; seeds absent or one, 1–3 mm wide, dark brown to black.
Flowering: Flowers in spring.
Distribution and occurrence: Occasional to locally common introduced plant between Manilla and Attunga (North Western Slopes); also occasionally escaped from cultivated in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. Grows along road-side verges.
NSW subdivisions: *NT, *CC, *CT, *ST, *NWS, *CWS, *SWS, *NWP
Other Australian states: *Qld *Vic. *Tas. *W.A. *S.A.
Then origin of this plant is unknown, probably derived from a hybrid between Brassica oleracea and B. rapa.
Text by T.J. Entwisle (1999)
Taxon concept: T.J. Entwisle (1999)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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