common dog mustard

(Erucastrum gallicum)

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNA - Not applicable

SNA - Not applicable

Minnesota

not listed

Weed Status

Common dog mustard is listed in the Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States. However, it is limited to specific habitat types, and it is considered a “minor weed.” It is not listed as invasive or regulated as a noxious weed in any state, including Minnesota.

 
common dog mustard
Photo by Dan W. Andree
 
Description

Common dog mustard is an exotic, easily identified, weedy plant. It is native to Europe. It was first collected in North America near Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903. In 1909 it was collected in North Dakota, Ohio, and Wyoming, suggesting it was already widespread. It was first reported in Minnesota in 1910. It was probably present in the United States prior to 1903 but not recorded due to problems with identification. It now occurs across the northern United States and southern Canada in a narrow range that has been called the “Erucastrum belt of North America.” In the U.S., it is most common from New Hampshire to Connecticut, west to North Dakota and South Dakota. In Canada, it is most common from Nova Scotia west to Alberta. Outside of these areas there are many widely scattered occurrences south as far as Mexico and north as far as Alaska. It is likely under-reported due to its small stature, small pale flowers, and its general appearance similar to plants in the mustard (Brassicaceae) family.

Common dog mustard is found in sites that have sparse vegetation due to past disturbance and a harsh microclimate. It is most common along railroads, roadsides, and waste places, suggesting that its spread is facilitated by the transportation system. Though not as common, it is found in grassland, disturbed ground, and beaches, and in cultivated fields after a crop has been harvested.

Common dog mustard is a 3½ to 25½ (9 to 65 cm) tall, erect, annual or biennial forb that rises on a rosette of basal leaves and a single flowering stem from a taproot.

The stems are erect or ascending, and they are covered with unbranched hairs. The stems may be unbranched, branched at the base, have few branches at the lower nodes, or have several branches along their length.

Stem leaves are alternate. Basal and lower stem leaves are inversely lance shaped, 1¼ to 11 (3 to 28 cm) long, and 516 to 4¼ (0.8 to 11 cm) wide. The leaf blades are usually deeply pinnately lobed with 3 to 10 lobes on each side. The lobes are 116 to 1¾ (2 to 45 mm) long. The lowest lobes are the smallest and the terminal lobe is often the largest. The margins may be lobed or have rounded or angular teeth. The upper and lower surfaces are sparsely covered with unbranched hairs. The leaves get progressively smaller and less divided as they ascend the stem. Upper stem leaves may be on short stalks (petioles) or stalkless (sessile). If sessile, the leaf bases do not partially surround (clasp) the stem. Uppermost stem leaves are to (10 to 20 mm) long.

The inflorescence is a elongate, loose, unbranched cluster (raceme) of many flowers at the end of the stem and branches. Each raceme is subtended by a slightly modified inflorescence leaf (bract).

Each flower is to ½ (10 to 12 mm) in diameter and is on a 116 to (2 to 16 mm) long stalk (pedicel). There are 4 outer floral leaves (sepals), 4 petals, 6 stamens, and 1 style. The sepals are erect to ascending, sparsely hairy, to 3 16 (3 to 5 mm) long, and 132 to 116 (1 to 2 mm) wide. The petals are pale yellow, spatula shaped, to 516 (4 to 8 mm) long, and 132 to (1.5 to 3 mm) wide. There are 4 long stamens and 2 short stamens. The stalks of the stamens (filaments) are to 3 16 (3.5 to 5.5 mm) long.

The fruit is an ascending, straight, linear, ¾ to 1½ (2 to 4 cm) long seed capsule (silique). The silique is more or less 4 angled in cross section, and it is pinched between inflated sections. It has no prolonged tip (beak) at the end, but the style persists. The flowering time is very long, from May to September, and the flowers bloom from the bottom up. As the fruits mature, the raceme greatly elongates between each fruit.

The seeds are reddish brown.

 

Height

3½ to 25½ (9 to 65 cm)

 

Flower Color

Pale yellow

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat

Railroads, roadsides, and waste places, harvested cropland, grassland, disturbed ground, and beaches

Ecology

Flowering

May to September

 

Pests and Diseases

 

Use

 

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30.

12/15/2024    
     

Nativity

Native to Europe. Introduced and widely naturalized.

     

Occurrence

Common

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae (green algae and land plants)

Subkingdom

Viridiplantae (green plants)

Infrakingdom

Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)

Superdivision

Embryophyta (land plants)

Division

Tracheophyta (vascular plants)

Subdivision

Spermatophytina (seed plants) / Angiospermae (flowering plants)

Class

Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)

Superorder

Rosanae

Order

Brassicales (mustards, capers, and allies)

Family

Brassicaceae (mustard)

Subfamily

Brassicoideae

Supertribe

Brassicodae

Tribe

Brassiceae

Genus

Erucastrum (dog mustards)

   

Subordinate Taxa

 

   

Synonyms

Brassica bracteata

Brassica erucastrum var. ochroleuca

Brassica gallica

Brassica ochroleuca

Brassica pollichii

Brassicaria bracteata

Crucifera pollichii

Diplotaxis bracteata

Diplotaxis bracteata var. luteiflora

Eruca pollichii

Erucastrum inodorum

Erucastrum obtusangulum ssp. pollichii

Erucastrum ochroleucum

Erucastrum pollichii

Erucastrum vulgare

Hirschfeldia gallica

Hirschfeldia pollichii

Kibera gallica

Sinapis erucastrum

Sisymbrium erucastrum

Sisymbrium gallicum

Sisymbrium hirtum

Sisymbrium irio var. gallicum

Sisymbrium murale var. erucastrum

   

Common Names

common dog mustard

common dogmustard

common dog-mustard

dog mustard

French dog-mustard

hairy rocket

rocketweed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Beak

In plants: A comparatively short and stout, narrow or prolonged tip on a thickened organ, as on some fruits and seeds. In insects: The protruding, tubular mouthpart of a sucking insect.

 

Clasping

Describing a leaf that wholly or partly surrounds the stem but does not fuse at the base.

 

Pedicel

On plants: the stalk of a single flower in a cluster of flowers. On insects: the second segment of the antennae. On Hymenoptera and Araneae: the narrow stalk connecting the thorax to the abdomen: the preferred term is petiole.

 

Petiole

On plants: The stalk of a leaf blade or a compound leaf that attaches it to the stem. On ants and wasps: The constricted first one or two segments of the rear part of the body.

 

Pinnate

Having the leaflets of a compound leaf arranged on opposite sides of a common stalk.

 

Raceme

An unbranched, elongated inflorescence with stalked flowers. The flowers mature from the bottom up.

 

Sepal

An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.

 

Sessile

Stalkless; attached at the base without a petiole, peduncle, pedicel, or stalk.

 

Silique

A seed capsule of plants in the family Brassicaceae that has two fused carpels and is more than three times as long as wide.

 

 

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Dan W. Andree

common dog mustard

Field Mustard?...

There were a couple of these plants I noticed on the far SW corner section of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Pavia Unit. I had never seen this type plant before on any prairie and think it might be a weed or non-native plant called field mustard.

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Erucastrum gallicum
orey.raimond

Erucastrum gallicum

 

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Dan W. Andree
9/18/2024

Location: Northern Tallgrass Prairie NWR, Pavia Unit

There were a couple of these plants I noticed on the far SW corner section of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Pavia Unit. I had never seen this type plant before on any prairie and think it might be a weed or non-native plant called field mustard.

common dog mustard
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Created: 12/16/2024

Last Updated:

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