Sinapis arvensis

Charlock, Charlock

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Charlock is a naturalized perennial found in California's Foothill Populations (except Sierra Nevada Highlands) in disturbed areas at elevations below 1,800 meters. Flowering from March to October, this plant produces bright yellow flowers 9 to 12 millimeters long. Growing with branched stems 20 to 100 centimeters tall covered in spreading or reflexed hairs, it has a robust and sprawling habit. Its basal leaves are pinnately lobed, 4 to 18 centimeters long, with 1 to 4 pairs of dentate lateral lobes. The fruit is a distinctive elongated pod 2 to 4.5 centimeters long, creating distinctive seed clusters in disturbed landscapes.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Mar-Oct

Elevation: < 1800 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (exc SNH)

California counties: Los Angeles, Colusa, Contra Costa, Fresno, Orange, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Yolo, Alameda, Tulare, Kings, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Mateo, Kern, Calaveras, Sutter, Glenn, Solano, Napa, Plumas, Sonoma, San Francisco, Nevada, San Benito, Monterey, San Diego, Butte, Tuolumne, Yuba, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Siskiyou, Modoc, Merced, Humboldt, Amador, Trinity, Placer, Del Norte, Mariposa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.