Eruca cappadocica Reut. ex Boiss., Diagn. Pl.

AL-Shehbaz, Ihsan A. & Barriera, Gabrielle, 2019, Typification of Edmond Boissier’s Cruciferae (Brassicaceae) names enumerated in Flora Orientalis, Boissiera 72, pp. 1-193 : 168

Eruca cappadocica Reut. ex Boiss., Diagn. Pl. Orient. ser. 2, 6: 13. 1859.

Type: “Hab. in planitie Koniah Asiae minoris cl. de Heldr. pl. exs. 1845, Nº 1289 sub. Er. sativâ , inter segetes Cappadociae propè Enehil alt. 1460 metr. cl. Balansa Nº 445”.

Lectotypus (designated here): TURKEY: “Jardins Moissous.- Village d’Enéhil (Cappadoce)”, 1460 m, IX.1856, Balansa 445 ( G-BOIS [ G00332655 ]) . Syntypus: TURKEY: “ Plaine de Koniah près de Soulimanhatsi au pied du Karadagh”, 19. VI .1845, Heldreich 1289 ( G-BOIS [ G00332656 ]) .

= Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa (Mill.) Thell. in Hegi, Ill. Fl. Mitt.- Eur. 4: 201. 1918.

Notes. – Eruca vesicaria is one of the most variable species in the tribe Brassiceae due to its weediness and successful escape from cultivation as the salad crop arugula (English) or roquette (French) or as a source of industrial oil.

There is tremendous diversity in floral and leaf morphology, coupled with a greater variability in fruit length, width, seed size and number, and length of the apical segment “beak” relative to that of the proximal valvular segment.

All attempts in the past to accord species, subspecies, or varietal ranks to some of the variants led to further confusion, and the taxonomy of this complex is best served by the recognition of one species with two subspecies. The subsp. vesicaria has persistent calyx and is endemic to Spain, including the Balearic Islands, whereas subsp. sativa has readily deciduous calyx and is the cosmopolitan weed and cultivated crop.