Flora of New Zealand Series

rape

Annual or biennial herb with lax rosette. Stems erect or ascending, becoming subwoody below, glabrous, to 1.5 m tall. Lower lvs petiolate, lyrate-pinnatifid with 1-3 pairs of lateral lobes, glaucous, bristly, especially on veins, often ciliate, 10-30 × 5-15 cm. Upper lvs glaucous, becoming entire, sessile, amplexicaul, glabrous, narrow-triangular, entire or toothed, 2-10 × 1-2 cm. Racemes to 40 cm long; open fls slightly below level of buds. Sepals erecto-patent, (4)-5-7 × 1-2 mm. Petals bright to pale yellow, 10-12 × (4)-5-6 mm. Lateral stamens spreading. Silique terete, glabrous, narrowly oblong, slightly constricted between seeds, (50)-60-80 × 2-5 mm; gynophore 0; valves with pronounced median and weak lateral veins; beak tapering, seedless, 8-15 mm long. Seeds dark brown to blue-black, 1.5-2.5 mm diam.

N.; S.: throughout.

Europe 1867

Locally naturalised on coasts, and an occasional casual escape from cultivation on roadsides and in cultivated fields.

Poisonous (Connor 1977).

This sp. has also been referred to in N.Z. as B. campestris var. napus and B. campestris var. oleifera. Rape, oil-seed rape, and swede are all cvs of B. napus.