Wild Radish

 

 

Other names: jointed charlock, sea radish, white charlock

 

Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard Family)

 

Range: Most of the US and Canada.

 

Native: Introduced

 

Native Habitat:   Asia and possibly the Mediterranean.   Preferred habitat is disturbed locations.     It seems to love the beaches here.

 

Bloom Time: Late spring to late summer

 

Notes:

 

This plant may or may not be the ancestor of the cultivated radish Raphanus sativus (the two species can hybridize).   It can be mistaken for mustard or canola (they are related).

 

Flower color varies from white to purple, and yellow and orange.    The yellow form is common here.   The flowers are frost hardy.

 

As you can see from the links below, it’s distributed widely.

 

I’ve always loved how filmy it looks from a distance.   One of my favorite patches is on the corner of a beach on Mackworth Island, and has these lovely, floaty yellow flowers lighting up what would otherwise be a dark corner for a good stretch of the summer.

 

Locations in Photos:

 

Crescent Beach State Park, Cape Elizabeth, ME

Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, ME

Mackworth Island State Park, Falmouth, ME

Birth Point State Park, Owls Head, ME

Eastern Promenade, Portland, ME

South Portland, ME