Strigosella africana

African mustard

Family: Brassicaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

African mustard is a naturalized annual found in the southern eastern California desert mountains and desert Mojave regions in disturbed areas, desert scrub, and fields at elevations of 600 to 2,400 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces violet to pink (occasionally white) flowers 8 to 10 millimeters long with narrow petals. Growing with branched stems 15 to 30 centimeters tall, it spreads across open landscapes. Its proximal leaves are oblanceolate to oblong, 1.5 to 6 centimeters long, sometimes with subtle dentate edges. The ascending fruits are slender, reaching 3.5 to 5.5 centimeters in length.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, desert scrub, fields, flats

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 600-2400 m

Bioregions: SNE, DMoj

California counties: Inyo, San Bernardino

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