Barbarea vulgaris
Barbarea vulgaris, also called wintercress, or alternatively winter rocket, rocketcress, yellow rocketcress, yellow rocket, wound rocket, herb barbara, creases, or creasy greens, is a biennial herb of the genus Barbarea, belonging to the family Brassicaceae.
Description
The plant grows to high and wide. The stem is ribbed and hairless, branched at the base. It has basal rosettes of shiny, dark green leaves. The basal leaves are stalked and lyre-pinnatifid, that is with a large terminal lobe and smaller lower lobes. The cauline leaves are smaller, ovate, toothed, or lobed. The flowers are borne in spring in dense terminal clusters above the foliage. They are long, with four bright yellow petals. The flowering period extends from about April through July. The fruit is a pod around.Chemical substances in this species include saponins, flavonoids, and glucosinolates. It usually has a peppery taste.
Taxonomy
Formally, B. vulgaris was first published and described by William Aiton in his Hortus Kewensis. Some references still mention Robert Brown as the author. Indeed, botanists believe that Brown was the actual author of the first botanical description of B. vulgaris in the description of the family Brassicaceae. However, W. T. Aiton, the publishing author, did not mention or indicate Brown's name for Brassicaceae; therefore, W. T. Aiton is author of the Brassicaceae novelties in this work.B. vulgaris has various common names of which the most commonly used is 'wintercress', which can also be used for the entire genus Barbarea. Many other common names are listed in various sources, including, 'creases', 'creasy greens', 'cressy-greens', 'English wintercress', 'herb-Barbaras', 'rocket cress', and 'yellow rocket'. Two additional names sometimes used, 'bittercress' and 'upland cress' are ambiguous; the name 'bittercress' usually signifies various species of the genus Cardamine, and 'upland cress' usually signifies B. verna.
Etymology
The genus name Barbarea derives from Saint Barbara, the patron saint of artillerymen and miners, as this plant in the past was used to soothe the wounds caused by explosions. The species Latin name vulgaris means "common".Distribution and habitat
Native to Eurasia and North Africa, it is naturalised in many parts of North America and New Zealand as a weed.Range
It is found in temperate North Africa within Algeria and Tunisia. Also in Asia, within Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Caucasus, China, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey. It is also found in tropical parts Asia, such as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.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, Ireland, Sweden and United Kingdom. In southeastern Europe, within Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. Lastly, it is found in southwestern Europe, it is found in France, Portugal and Spain.
Habitat
The plant prefers fresh or moist places, on roadsides, along rivers, in arable land, wastelands and docklands, or on the slopes and in ditches, at an altitude of above sea level. In Britain, it can be found in hedgerows and the edges of woodlands.It also prefers to grow in siliceous, calcareous, sandy, alluvial and clay soils.
Ecology
Natural chemotypes with distinct ecology
A pubescent type has been described from southern Scandinavia and Russia. While this chemotype is rare in Scandinavia, it seems to be dominant in Russia according to the only survey made so far. This type has atypical chemistry and is devoid of resistance to the diamondback moth and the flea beetle Phyllotreta nemorum. The P-type belongs morphologically to the variety B. vulgaris var. arcuata, but may also be identical to the variety originally described as Barbarea ''arcuata Rchb. var. pubescens N. Busch. In this context, the usual type of B. vulgaris var. arcuata'' is called the "G-type". This type is reported to be dominant in Central Europe. On a genomic scale, more than 22.000 genes were found to have fixed differences between the two types.A chemotype with deviating glucosinolate content has been described from Western and Central Europe and named the "NAS-type".
While the P-type and G-type differ in multiple genetic, chemical and morphological features, the NAS and BAR types seem to be a simple monogenic variation. For this reason, it has been suggested to refer to NAS and BAR forms and P- and G-types. Indeed, occasional NAS form plants in Central Europe were found to be G-type by a set of genetic markers.