Sisymbrium altissimum L., Brassicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: da suan jie

English: Jim Hill mustard, tall hedge mustard, tall mustard, tall rocket, tall sisymbrium, tall tumblemustard, tumble mustard, tumbleweed mustard

French: moutarde, moutarde roulante, sisymbre élevé, sisymbre fausse

Spanish: jaramago, mostaza hembra

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Herbs annual, (20-) 40-120 (-160) cm tall. Stems erect, branched above, sparsely to densely hirsute near base, glabrous or subglabrous above. Basal leaves rosulate; petiole 1-10 (-15) cm; leaf blade broadly oblanceolate, oblong or lanceolate in outline, pinnatisect, pinnatifid, or runcinate, (2-) 5-20 (-35) x (1-) 2-8 (-10) cm; lateral lobes (3 or) 4-6 (-8) on each side of midvein, smaller than terminal one, oblong or lanceolate, entire, dentate, or lobed. Uppermost cauline leaves with narrowly linear to filiform lobes. Fruiting pedicels divaricate or rarely ascending, stout, nearly as thick as fruit, (4-) 6-10 (-13) mm. Sepals oblong, cucullate, ascending or spreading, 4-6 x 1-2 mm. Petals yellow, spatulate, (5-) 6-8 (-10) x 2.5-4 mm; claw subequaling sepals. Filaments yellowish, erect, 2-6 mm; anthers oblong, 1.5-2.2 mm. Ovules 90-120 per ovary. Fruit narrowly linear, stout, terete, (4.5-) 6-9 (-12) cm x 1-2 mm, usually straight; valves glabrous, smooth; style subclavate, 0.5-2 mm; stigma prominently 2-lobed; septum slightly thickened. Seeds oblong, 0.8-1 x 0.5-0.6 mm, inserted in depressions of septum"  (Flora of China online).

"Annual herbs; stems 3-15 dm long, loosely branched above, usually hirsute toward base, the hairs simple.  Lower leaves pinnately lobed, the lobes oblong and dentate, gradually changing upward on the plant to leaves with linear to filiform, entire segments.  Pedicels straight, widely spreading; sepals often yellow-tinged, 3.5-5 mm long; petals pale yellow, fading white, 6-9 mm long.  Siliques linear, terete, straight, 5-10 cm long, nearly equaling the pedicels in diameter, glabrous.  Seeds oblong, ca. 1 mm long, wingless"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 413).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized and apparently relatively uncommon in dry, disturbed sites, 15-3,050 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 413).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Eurasia, widely naturalized (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 413).

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 invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 413) Voucher cited: Fagerlund & Mitchell 767 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 413)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 413)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 413)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wysong, Michael/Hughes, Guy/Wood, K. R. (2007) (p. 3) Voucher cited: K.R. Wood & Hughes 10677 (PTBG)

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. 201)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) quot;Roadsides, fields, pastures, waste grounds, disturbed sites, grasslands; sea level to 2500 m. Liaoning, Xinjiang, Xizang".
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 183)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 201)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 445) "Common on roadsides and waste land".

Additional information:
Information from the Fire Effects Information System

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

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

Taxonomic information about Sisymbrium altissimum 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.

Wysong, Michael/Hughes, Guy/Wood, K. R. 2007. New Hawaiian plant records for the island of Moloka‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2006. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:1-8.

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