Rorippa indica (L.) Hiern, Brassicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: han cai

English: India fieldcress, variableleaf yellowcress, yellow cress

Fijian: sewathi

French: rorippa d'Inde

Spanish: berro de chanco

Habit:  herb

Description:  Perennial herb with short rhizomes.  Stem erect or sometimes ascending, usually branching below, angled.  Basal and lower leaves petiolate, elliptical to lanceolate-oblong, lyrate-pinnatifid or irregularly dentate-serrate, up to 15 cm long and 4 cm wide; upper leaves shortly petiolate or sessile, lanceolate, irregularly dentate, acute, base sometimes auriculate.  Inflorescence an ebracteate corymb, elongating later.  Flowers approximately 3-5 mm in diameter, bright yellow; pedicel 2-3 mm long, perianth double, segments free; sepals 2-3 mm long, elliptical-oblong, ± spreading; petals 3-4 mm long, usually longer than sepals, bright yellow, spatulate; stamens 6, carpels 2, united; ovary cylindrical, style short and thickened, stigma capitate, 0.5-1 mm long.  Fruit a siliqua (10-) 15-25 cm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, narrowly linear, slightly curved; style thick and short, many-seeded; fruiting pedicel 2-8 mm long, slender.  Seeds 0.6-0.7 mm long, ± cordate, ovate or oblong, yellowish-brown, granular, flattened (adapted from Hafliger & Wolf, 1988; p. 193).

"Herbs annual, (6-)20-60(-75) cm tall, glabrous or rarely sparsely pubescent. Stems often branched basally and apically. Basal leaves withered by flowering. Lower and middle cauline leaves auriculate or not; petiole absent or 1-4 cm; leaf blade lyrate-pinnatipartite or undivided, obovate, oblong, or lanceolate, (2.5-)3.5-12(-16) x (0.8-)1.5-4(-5) cm, margin entire, irregularly crenate, or serrate, apex obtuse or subacute; terminal lobe oblong, elliptic, or oblong-lanceolate, to 10 x 5 cm; lateral lobes absent or 1-5(or 6) on each side of midvein. Uppermost leaves usually sessile, auriculate or not; leaf blade lanceolate or oblong, margin entire, denticulate, or serrulate, apex acute or acuminate. Racemes ebracteate. Fruiting pedicels slender, ascending, divaricate, or rarely slightly reflexed, straight, (2-)3-10(-15) mm. Sepals often green or pinkish, ascending, oblong-ovate, 2-3 x 0.8-1.5 mm, margin membranous. Petals yellow, obovate or spatulate, (2.5-)3-4(-4.5) x 1-1.5 mm, rarely absent. Filaments 1.5-3 mm; anthers oblong, 0.5-0.8 mm. Ovules (60-)70-110 per ovary. Fruit linear, (0.7-)1-2.4(-3) cm x 1-1.5(-2) mm, often curved upward; valves thin papery, not veined; style (0.5-)1-1.5(-2) mm, slender, narrower than fruit. Seeds reddish brown, ovate or ovate-orbicular, 0.5-0.9 x 0.4-0.6 mm, foveolate, biseriate or nearly so"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "an occasional weed in waste places from near sea level to about 400 m" (Smith, 1981; p. 711).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Indian subcontinent and eastern Asia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (p. 711) Var. apetala (L.) Hochr., voucher cited: DA 3495
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (p. 711) Var. apetala (L.) Hochr., vouchers cited: DA 2459, DA 7420
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 193)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	probably introduced invasive	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 208) In and about towns along drains, ditches, etc., waste places, along streams, etc, in the more or less settled areas.

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)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Roadsides, field margins, gardens, river banks; near sea level to 3200 m".
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (pp. 111-112)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 246)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

Taxonomic information about Rorippa indica 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.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 2 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 530 pp.

Smith, Albert C. 1981. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 2. 810 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.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

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