Flora-Fauna

Hirschfeldia incana (L.) Lagr.-Foss.

≡ Sinapis incana L.
≡ Erucastrum incanum (L.) Koch
≡ Hirschfeldia adpressa Moench
(First published in Fl. Tarn Garonne: 19; 1847. Treated in Nouv. Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 114, Pl. XLIII nº 5; 1966)

• Life-form & habit: Annual or biennial hispid herb, 20 – 100 cm tall, green, usually simple below and branched above. Stems erect, sparsely to moderately hispid, sometimes divaricate.

• Leaves: Basal leaves lyrate-pinnatifid with a large terminal lobe and smaller lateral ones, forming a rosette that withers at anthesis; upper leaves linear, entire or slightly toothed.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Racemes dense, elongating in fruit. Pedicels short and thickened. Sepals 4 – 5 mm; petals bright yellow, 6 – 9 mm.

• Fruit: Siliques 1 – 2 cm long × 1 – 1.5 mm wide, cylindrical, scarcely torulose, appressed to the rachis; beak (rostrum) 4 – 7 mm, thickened toward the tip and often geniculate (ssp. geniculata (Desf.) Maire). Valves coriaceous, trinerved; seeds reddish-brown, uniseriate.

• Phenology: Flowers February – June.

• Habitat & elevation: Fields, roadsides, and waste ground, from sea level up to 1 000 m.

• Lebanese distribution: Common in the coastal plains and cultivated valleys – Beirut, Saida, Tripoli, Qartaba, Zahlé, Ouadi el-Harir; extending into southern Syria (‘Abboudiyeh, Eriha, Ma‘aret en-No‘man, Soueida, Chahba, Cha‘af).

• Native range: Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Canary Islands, Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Islands, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Peninsula, Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Spain, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe (POWO).

• Introduced into: Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Austria, Azores, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, California, Cape Provinces, Central European Russia, Chile Central, Chile North, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, Desventurados Islands, Easter Island, Germany, Great Britain, Hawaii, Idaho, Ireland, Japan, Juan Fernández Islands, Mauritius, Mexico Northwest, Nansei-shoto, Netherlands, Nevada, New South Wales, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Northwest European Russia, Norway, Oregon, Primorye, Queensland, Réunion, South Australia, Switzerland, Tasmania, Uruguay, Victoria, Washington, Yemen (POWO).

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A cosmopolitan ruderal species, highly adaptable and variable, sometimes treated with infraspecific taxa such as subsp. geniculata (Desf.) Maire. Distinguished from Erucastrum gallicum by its compact racemes, appressed siliques, and thickened beak.