Cruciferae - General Description in Semi-Technical Terms:

Family : Cruciferae , Cr This family includes vegetables flowers and wild varieties. Some economically important plants of this family are :

• Brassica campestris, (TORI) Important for oil and vegetable
• B. rapa, (Turnip) Important for vegetable
• B. nigra, (RAYO) Important for oil and vegetable
• B. oleracea, (CAULI) Important vegetable and Anticancer
• Raphnus sativus (MULA) Important vegetable
• Lepidium sativum (CHAMSUR) Important vegetable

Habit habitat: Annual or biannual or sometimes perennial, herbs, rarely shrubs, wild or cultivated, terrestrial, mesophytic.

Root: Tap root and branched or modified (fusiform e.g. Raphnus sativus, Napioform e.g. B.rapa), sometimes adventitious e.g. Roripa.

Stem: Erect, herbaceous, branched, cylindrical, solid, hairy or glabrous, green, sometimes stem is condensed or thickened (B. oleraces, R. sativs)

Leaf: Exstipulate, petiolate or sessile, alternate, rarely opposite, simple, cauline and ramal or radical, lyrate, lobed or entire, acute, glabrous, unicostate, reticulate venetation. Inflorescence: racemose, receme or corymb

Flower: Ebracteate, ebractiolate, pedicellate, hermaphrodite, complete, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, hypogynous, tetramerous, small, white or yellow.

Calyx: sepals-4, polysepalous, sepaloid, sepals in two worls, 2 in each whorl, hairy or glabrous, imbricate aestivation.

Corolla: petals-4, polypetalous, cruciform, each petal consists of limb and claw, alternate with sepals, petaloid, valvet or imbricate aestivation.

Androecium: stamens-6, tetramerous, polyandrous. Anther – bicelled, dithecous, basifixed, introse

Gynoecium: Carpels-2, bicarpellary, syncarpous. Ovary - superior, unilocular or bilocular, placentation parietal. Style – short. Stigma – bilobed or glabrous.

Fruit: Siliqua

Seed: Dicotyledinous and non-endospermic

Floral formula:

Floral Diagram:

Systemic position:

Distinguishing characters:  Herbaceous stem, alternate leaves, racemose inflorescence, ebracteate, tetramerous, sepals – 4, polysepalous, Petals – 4, polypetalous, cruciform, stamens – 6, tetradynamous, fruit is siliqua.