Brassica napus L., Brassicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 16 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: ou zhou you cai

English: annual rape, Argentine canola, canola, colza, oilseed rape, rape, summer rape, Swede rape, turnip, winter rape

French: colza d'hiver, colza de printemps, navette

Spanish: nabina, nabo

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual or biennial herb with lax rosette. Stems erect or ascending, becoming subwoody below, glabrous, to 1.5 m tall. Lower leaves petiolate, lyrate-pinnatifid with 1-3 pairs of lateral lobes, glaucous, bristly, especially on veins, often ciliate, 10-30 x 5-15 cm. Upper leaves glaucous, becoming entire, sessile, amplexicaul, glabrous, narrow-triangular, entire or toothed, 2-10 x 1-2 cm. Racemes to 40 cm long; open flowers slightly below level of buds. Sepals erecto-patent, (4)-5-7 x 1-2 mm. Petals bright to pale yellow, 10-12 x (4)-5-6 mm. Lateral stamens spreading. Silique terete, glabrous, narrowly oblong, slightly constricted between seeds, (50)-60-80 x 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 in diameter"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 406).

"Herbs annual or biennial, 30-150 cm tall, glabrous or basally sparsely hirsute, often glaucous, with or without fleshy taproots. Stems erect, branched above. Basal and lowermost cauline leaves long petiolate; petiole to 15 cm; leaf blade ovate, oblong, or lanceolate in outline, 5-25(-40) x 2-7(-10) cm, pinnately lobed or lyrate, sometimes undivided; terminal lobes ovate, dentate, repand, or entire; lateral lobes 1-6 on each side of midvein, much smaller than terminal one, entire, repand, or dentate, sometimes absent. Upper cauline leaves sessile, lanceolate, ovate, or oblong, to 8 x 3.5 cm, base amplexicaul, auriculate, margin entire or repand. Fruiting pedicels straight, divaricate, (1-)1.2-2.3(-3) cm. Sepals oblong, (5-)6-10 x 1.5-2.5 mm, ascending or rarely suberect. Petals bright or pale yellow, (0.9-)1-1.6(-1.8) cm x (5-)6-9(-10) mm, broadly obovate, apex rounded; claw 5-9 mm. Filaments (5-)7-10 mm; anthers oblong, 1.5-2.5 mm. Fruit linear, (3.5-)5-9.5(-11) cm x (2.5-)3.5-5 mm, terete or slightly 4-angled, sessile, divaricate or ascending; valvular segment (3-)4-8.5(-9.5) cm, 12-20(-30)-seeded per locule; valves with a prominent midvein, slightly torulose or smooth; terminal segment conical, (0.5-)0.9-1.6 cm, seedless or 1-seeded; style often obsolete. Seeds dark brown or blackish, globose, (1.2-)1.5-2.5(-3) mm in diameter, minutely reticulate"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  In New Zealand, "Locally naturalised on coasts, and an occasional casual escape from cultivation on roadsides and in cultivated fields"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 406).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Only cultivated, possible origin in cultivation"  (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 218)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 551)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 218) Lobería Vieja, abundant and of enormous size.
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 551)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 218)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 551)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Collected in survey, herbarium record pending.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
French Polynesia Gambier Islands	Mangareva (Gambier) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 82)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 183)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 406)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Brassica napus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Brassica napus as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Brassica napus may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Skottsberg, Carl. 1953. The natural history of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island. Vol. II, Botany. Almqvist &l; Wiksells, Uppsala. 960 pp.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).