Wild Radish - introduced (*Raphanus raphanistrum)

Family: Brassicaceae (Cabbage family).

Native of the northern hemisphere.

Occurrence: Scattered weed. Roadsides, waste areas and farmland. It may be locally abundant.

Identification:

• the yellow flowers have four petals, which are dark veined
• the flowers fade to almost white
• the flowers are on branched, leafless stems
• the leaves are lobed; the terminal lobe is the largest
• the fruit are constricted below the seeds. When the seeds are ripe, the fruit breaks into one-seeded pieces.

The flower colour is variable, and the flowers may be a pale lilac. The fruit is unusual; in most yellow-flowered members of the cabbage family, the seed is released when opposite sides of the fruit peel apart.

Similar species: Wild Radish can be distinguished from other members of the cabbage family by the pale, veined petals, the fruit which are stout, and which break into pieces when the fruit is ripe.

Photos above and 2: Wild Radish flowers. Forest Creek. The yellow flowers fade to white. 3, 4: Fruit. 5: Fruit, flowers and leaves. The leaves have a large terminal lobe.

6: Dense Wild Radish. Moolort Road, colonising after herbicide. 7: The flowers have faded to white. Happy Valley.