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How to Manage Pests

Identification: Weed Photo Gallery

Mustards

Scientific name: Brassica spp. (Mustard Family: Brassicaceae)

Life stages of Mustards top picture bottom left picture bottom right picture

Click on image to enlarge

DESCRIPTION:
Mustards are winter annual broadleaf weeds. All mustard seedlings have broad cotyledons (seed leaves) with a deep notch at the tip. The first true leaves are bright green on the upper surface and paler below. Mature mustards have dense clusters of yellow flowers at the tips of branches. The seed pods are 1/2 to 3/4 inches (13 - 19 mm) long and approximately 1/12 inch (3.7 cm) broad. They are tipped with short slender beaks and stand close to the stem, often overlapping one another. Leaves are toothed, alternate along the stem, and are often deeply lobed, especially toward the base of the plant. Tumble mustard (link) is a winter or summer annual, and sometimes a biennial. It can reach roughly 5 feet (1.5 m) in height.

Broadleaf ID illustration.


Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
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For noncommercial purposes only, any Web site may link directly to this page. FOR ALL OTHER USES or more information, read Legal Notices. Unfortunately, we cannot provide individual solutions to specific pest problems. See How to manage pests, or in the U.S., contact your local Cooperative Extension office for assistance. /PMG/WEEDS/mustards.html revised: November 17, 2008. Contact webmaster.