Descurainia sophia (L.) Sm., Brassicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Other Latin names:  Sisymbrium sophia L.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: bo niang hao

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)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Roadsides, waste places, disturbed sites, fields, pastures, deserts; near sea level to 4200 m".
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 183)
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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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