Descurainia sophia (L.) Sm., Brassicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  yes

Other Latin names:  Sisymbrium sophia L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: flaxweed tansy mustard, flixweed, flixweed tansymustard, herb Sophia, pinnate tansymustard, tansy mustard

French: sagesse des chirurgiens, sisymbre sagesse, sisymbre sophia

Spanish: jacamago, serifio absintio, sofia de cirujanos

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual herbs, subglabrous to sparsely pubescent, but not glandular pubescent; stems 2-8 dm long, single from the base, branched above.  Basal leaves usually quickly deciduous, 2-3 times pinnately compound, the segments sometimes toothed; cauline leaves similar, thesegments usually linear, sometimes elliptic to obovate.  Flowers in elongated, loose racemes, fruiting pedicels 7-15 mm long; sepals erect, narrowly elliptic to linear; petals yellowish green.  Siliques terete, usually torulose and curved, occasionally straight, 21-3 cm long.  Seeds in 1 row per cell, oblong-ellipsoid, 0.8-1.5 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 405).

Habitat/ecology:  "Flixweed tansymustard occurs in open-canopy, disturbed sites. It is particularly common in washes and on roadsides, railroad rights-of-way, waste grounds, old fields, and early seral burns. It grows in a variety of mineral soils including loam, silty clay, and sand, where it is most common. It tolerates dry soil, but is not salt tolerant"  (Fire Effects Information System).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Eurasia (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 405).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 405) Voucher cited: Kawasaki 8 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 405)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 165)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 420) "Waste places, stock yards, railway yards".

Additional information:  Information from the Fire Effects Information System

Additional online information about Descurainia sophia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

References:

Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias. 1988. Dicot weeds, vol. 1. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 335 pp.

U. S. Government. 2006. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

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.