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Brassica rapa campestris

Common name:	Wild Turnip	Family:	Cruciferae
Author:	L.(A.R.Clapham.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:	Brassica rapa silvestris ((Lam.)Janch.), Brassica campestris (L.)
Known Hazards:	The oil contained in the seed of some varieties of this species can be rich in erucic acid which is toxic. However, modern cultivars have been selected which are almost free of erucic acid.
Range:	Europe - Mediterranean. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	River banks, arable and waste land[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	B. campestris ssp. campestris[P] B. campestris ssp. rapifera[P] B. campestris subsp. campestris[G] B. campestris var. oleifera[P] B. campestris var. rapa[B,P] B. rapa[B,CPHOTO,CAL,CAL,,DUTCH,ENERGY,E,G,H,HORTIPLEX,P] B. rapa ssp. campestris[B,P] B. rapa ssp. olifera[B,P] B. rapa ssp. sylvestris[B,P] B. rapa subsp. campestris[G] B. rapa subsp. silvestris[G] B. rapa subsp. sylvestris[H] B. rapa var. campestris[B,P] B. rapa var. oleifera[P] B. rapa var. rapa[B,P] B. rapa var. silvestris[G,P] Caulanthus sulfureus[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Abura-Na [E], Birdrape [P], Canola [H], Chou [E], Colza [P], Ma Chieh [E], Man Ching [E], Mustard Spinach [H], Raapzaad [D], Rape [B], Rape Mustard [P], Salgam [E], Shalgham [E], Shelem [E], Turnip [H,E], Wu Ching [E], Yu T'Sai [E], Yun T'Ai [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	campestris = of fields rapa = turnip (like)
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Capparales. Renamed to Brassicaceae -- Mustard family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Haiti India(Santal) Iraq Japan Kurdistan Turkey Us

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.75m. It is hardy to zone 7 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves Oil.

Leaves - raw or cooked. A strong radish/cabbage flavour.
An edible oil is obtained from the seed, it is best when cold pressed[171]. Some varieties are rich in erucic acid which can be harmful[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiscorbutic.

The tuberous roots and seeds are considered to be antiscorbutic[243]. A rather strange report, the leaves are much more likely to contain reasonable quantities of vitamin C than the roots or seeds[K].

Other Uses

Oil.

The seed contains up to 45% of a semi-drying oil. It is used as a lubricant, luminant and in soap making[1, 46, 57, 61, 74, 171].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil[16, 200]. Succeeds in any reasonable soil but prefers one on the heavy side[16]. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.8 to 8.3.
This is the wild form of the turnip with a non-tuberous tap-root[17]. It is closely related to the cultivated forms that are grown for their edible oil-bearing seeds[17].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

References for Brassica campestris (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Brassica rapa (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HEC] Use, Folk Medicine, etc. from Handbook of Energy Crops by James Duke
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Brassica rapa subsp. campestris (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for Brassica rapa subsp. sylvestris (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for Brassica rapa var. rapa (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Brassica rapa var. silvestris (a possible synonym).

[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[16] Simons. New Vegetable Growers Handbook. Penguin 1977 ISBN 0-14-046-050-0
A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[243] Medicinal Plants of Nepal Dept. of Medicinal Plants. Nepal. 1993
Terse details of the medicinal properties of Nepalese plants, including cultivated species and a few imported herbs.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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