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Pacific Seaweeds

40 | Shore plants

Cakile edentula Sea rocket

Angiospearmae Family Brassicaceae

Description

Cakile (Arabic name for this plant) edentula is an annual herb of the mustard family. The epithet ‘edentula’ (toothless) refers to its smooth fruit, which dif-fers from other members of the genus. Fleshy, branched plants, 10–50 cm (4–20 in) tall, produce sprawling to upright stems with alternating spoon-shaped leaves that can be lobed to serrated. Plants are nourished by a taproot. Flowers are a four-petal cross, characteristic of the Brassica family, ranging from delicate purple to white. The green spherical fruits, 1.5–2.5 cm (0.6–1 in) long, form long clusters that weigh down the branches. The seeds float—a very handy feature for a shore plant—allowing effective dispersal by water. The edible leaves and fruit have a hot, radishy kick, a delight in any salad.

The related and similar European sea rocket (Cakile maritima) is an intro-duced species that is reported to be replacing American sea rocket along the west coast of North America. European sea rocket has larger flowers and dis-tinctive “wings” at the base of the fruit. The distribution of both sea rockets, and the apparent displacement of one by the other, is the subject of the West

Cakile edentula.