Eruca

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids II
Ordo: Brassicales

Familia: Brassicaceae
Tribus: Brassiceae
Genus: Eruca
Species: E. loncholoma - E. pinnatifida - E. setulosa - E. vesicaria

Name

Eruca Mill.

Type species: Eruca sativa Mill. vide Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa (Mill.) Thell.

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Euzomum Link
Kibera Adans.
Plastobrassica (O.E. Schulz) Tzvelev
Reboudia Coss. & Durieu ex Coss.
Strangalis Dulac
Valleruca Pomel

References

Miller, P. 1768. The Gardeners Dictionary: . . . eighth edition Eruca. Earlier Miller publication Gard. Dict. Abr. (ed. 4) not to be used because names not based on Linnaean system. ICBN Art. 32.6, Ex. 10.
International Plant Names Index. 2017. Eruca. Published online. Accessed: Feb. 3 2017.
Koch, M.A. et al. 2017. Eruca in BrassiBase Tools and biological resources to study characters and traits in the Brassicaceae. Published online. Accessed: 2017 Feb. 3.
Tropicos.org 2017. Eruca. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 3 Feb. 2017.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Senfrauken
suomi: Sinappikaalit
Eruca is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, which includes the leaf vegetable known as arugula or rocket.

The number of species is disputed, with some authorities only accepting a single species, while others accept up to five species. The following species are accepted by the Med-Checklist:[1][2]

Eruca loncholoma (Pomel) O.E.Schulz
Eruca pinnatifida (Desf.) Pomel (syn. E. sativa subsp. pinnatifida (Desf.) Batt.; E. vesicaria subsp. pinnatifida (Desf.) Emberger & Maire)
Eruca sativa Mill. (syn. E. vesicaria subsp. sativa (Mill.) Thell.)
Eruca setulosa Boiss. & Reuter
Eruca vesicaria (L.) Cav.

When treated as a monospecific genus, all are included within E. vesicaria.[3][4]

They can be both annual plants and biennial plants growing to 20–100 cm tall. The leaves are deeply pinnately lobed with four to ten small lateral lobes and a large terminal lobe. The flowers are 2–4 cm diameter, arranged in a corymb, with the typical Brassicaceae flower structure; the petals are creamy white with purple veins, and the stamens yellow. The fruit is a siliqua (pod) 12–25 mm long with an apical beak, and containing several seeds.[5][6][7]
References

Med-Checklist: Eruca
Med-Checklist: Eruca vesicaria aggregate
Flora of China: Eruca
Flora Europaea: Eruca
Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2
Flora of NW Europe: Eruca vesicaria Archived 2007-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.