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Sisymbrium officinale

Common name:	Hedge Mustard	Family:	Cruciferae
Author:	(L.)Scop.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Erysimum officinale (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe, including Britain, south and east from Scandanavia to N. Africa and the Near East.
Habitat:	Hedge banks, uncultivated ground, waste ground, the sites of ruined buildings etc. It is a fairly common weed of cultivated land[7, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	S. officinale var. leiocarpum[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bulbulotu [E], Common Hedge Mustard [H], Erisimo [E], Erysimum [E], Gewone Raket [D], Hedge Mustard [L], Hedge-mustard [B], Hedgemustard [P], Simmara [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	officinale = sold as an herb
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Capparales. Renamed to Brassicaceae -- Mustard family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe Iraq Spain Turkey
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.6m by 0.3m . It is hardy to zone 6 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

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

Habitats and Possible Locations

Hedgerow, Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Condiment Leaves Seed.

Young shoots - raw or cooked[2, 9, 85]. A bitter cabbage-like flavour, they are used as a flavouring in salads or cooked as a potherb[183, K].
Seed - raw or cooked[257]. It can be ground into a powder and used as a gruel or as a mustard-like flavouring in soups etc[85, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiaphonic Diuretic Expectorant Laxative Stomachic.

The whole plant is said to be antiaphonic, diuretic, expectorant, laxative and stomachic[4, 7, 21, 46]. This plant was at one time known as the 'singer's plant' because of its use in treating loss of the voice[7]. A strong infusion of the whole plant has been used in the treatment of throat complaints[4, 238]. Excessive doses can affect the heart[238]. The dried plant is almost inactive, so it should only be used when freshly harvested[7].

Other Uses

Soil conditioner.

Alkaline secretions from the growing roots help to sweeten an acid soil[18].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils but prefers a moist to dry acid to alkaline soil in full sun or light shade[238].
Plants are hardy to at least -15° c[238].
Hedge mustard grows well near oats but it inhibits the growth of turnips[18].
The plant has a peculiar aptitude for collecting and retaining dust[4]. This means that when growing near roads or other polluted places the leaves are seldom edible[K].
A food plant for the caterpillars of several butterfly and moth species[30].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ[238].

Suppliers

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

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Erysimum officinale (a possible synonym).

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

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[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.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[30] Carter D. Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe. Pan 1982 ISBN 0-330-26642-x
An excellent book on Lepidoptera, it also lists their favourite food plants.

[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.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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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