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Sisymbrium linifolium
Also called Salmon River Plains Mustard, Lava Cress, Plains Mustard, Rush Mustard, Skeleton Mustard, Slim Leaved Plains Mustard
A perennial wild mustard from western North America, growing from a deep rhizome and resprouting after fire. The key to growing it is that it is a hardy, drought-tolerant native of dry plains and basins rather than a garden crop.
Sisymbrium linifolium, synonyms including Schoenocrambe linifolia, is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family, known by the common names flaxleaf plainsmustard, skeleton mustard, and Salmon River plains-mustard. It is native to western North America, where it can be found from British Columbia east of the Cascade Range to Saskatchewan in Canada and south to Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. An "extremely common" plant, it is most abundant in the Columbia, Great, and Colorado Basins.
This perennial plant produces erect stems up to half a meter tall from a caudex. It grows from a long, deep rhizome. The leaves are linear, sometimes divided toward the base of the plant. The fruit is a slender silique up to 6 centimeters (2.4 in) long. It reproduces by seed and by resprouting from the rhizome and caudex. The latter process helps it recover quickly from wildfire.
The leaves are spicy enough to make wasabi but can also be mixed into salads and other dishes.
Tall tumblemustard · London rocket · Small tumbleweed mustard · Hedgemustard · Indian hedgemustard
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sisymbrium linifolium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
