Talk:Rhamphospermum nigrum

Old discussions
Hello to the botanists out there... I was just looking at an Italian recipe that calls for a vegetable called "cavolo nero". On the Italian Wikipedia, this appears under the entry "Brassica" with the scientific name "Brassica nigra". So, assuming there haven't been any mistakes made, either by me, the authors of this page, or the authors of that Italian page, it seems that another major use of Black Mustard--the greens, that is--is as a "dinner veggie", particularly in Italian cooking. Another name which I found online is "Tuscan cabbage" although this doesn't appear in the English Wikipedia, nor did I notice an Italian version of this name on the Italian Wikipedia (though I don't speak Italian so I may have simply missed it).

Anyway this seems like very relevant information that ought to be included on the page!--after being properly confirmed of course. Thanks-- Neoprote

The clue is in the name "Tuscan cabbage" - or black kale as it is known in Britain - cavolo nero is a member of the Brassica oleracea group FlagSteward 22:25, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

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These seeds are widely used in south Indian pickles. Espicelly south indian mango pickle called "Avakaaya" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.207.16.194 (talk) 01:46, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

Mustard in the bible
This article says, Brassica nigra is about 90 cm tall, something I believe is roughly correct. [[Parable of the Mustard Seed ]] claims the plant to be much taller. Which is correct? -- [[User:Vigilius|Vigilius ]] ( [[User talk:Vigilius|talk ]]) 16:20, 26 January 2018 (UTC)

Size?
I am trying to verify the claim that Brassica nigra grows to be 8 feet high. Some sources ( https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Brassica+nigra is one example ) give a height of half that. http://tchester.org/plants/analysis/mustard/comparison.html claims to contain a link to an image showing some dead ones towering over a 5' 2" woman but I can't identify the stalks in the picture.

So, how tall does it grow? --Guy Macon (talk) 18:32, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
 * User:Jonesey95 fixed the dead link (thanks!), so now we have a source. Alas, we have a bunch of sources that do not agree:
 * "The plants reach their full height of 1.5 to 2 metres (5 to 6 1/2 feet)". --Britannica
 * "Plant Height: 3 ft tall." --Reimer Seeds
 * "Black mustard is an erect winter annual to 6 ft tall". --University of California, Davis
 * "Description: Much-branched, aromatic, fast-growing, pubescent annual herb, to 4 m tall" (4 meters = 13.1 feet) --Purdue University
 * "Black mustard grows up to 6 feet tall". --LA Times
 * "It can grow to 8 feet tall given moist and fertile conditions". --Native Plant Trust
 * "The most common mustard plant in Southern California is black mustard (Brassica nigra)... Black mustard grows up to 6 feet tall." --LA Times
 * "Height: 40–80 cm (16–32 in.)". (32 inches - 2.5 feet) --Nature Gate
 * "Black mustard (Brassica nigra) is a tall, many branched, often weedy-looking annual plant. It often reaches six feet and may occasionally double that height". (2 x 6 feet = 12 feet) --The Nature Collective
 * "There are wild mustard plants over ten feet tall near the Jordan River, and even in moderate climate a mustard plant may grow that tall, provided it gets enough sunshine". --Old Dominion university
 * "This plant is a summer annual that becomes 2-8' tall". --Illinois Wildflowers
 * "Height: 24 - 72 inches". (72 inches = 6 feet) --Outside Pride
 * "Erect annual, taprooted forb, 2 to 8 feet tall". --US Forest Service
 * "Mustard, which can grow up to 10 feet is[sic] tall, is likely to dry up in the summer months, providing fuel for wildfires". --Curbed
 * So maybe the maximum size is 13 feet tall and maybe it's 2.5 feel tall... --Guy Macon (talk) 15:04, 18 May 2019 (UTC)
 * 3 to 20 dm (0.3 to 2 metres)  University Herbarium (UC) and Jepson Herbarium (JEPS) https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=16079
 * 30 - 200cm tall, exceptionally to 300cm Useful tropical plants
 * 0.3 - 2 (-3.1) m Flora of China

There is an area near me with I believe a large block of black mustard plants with the tallest approx 9ft tall. Would it help if I posted a video/image online or would that not be treated as a reputable source? The area was leveled due to a minor fire last July, it was general weed/foliage before, but these plants have entirely dominated the regrowth. I'm UK based. Wipolar (talk) 09:35, 20 May 2019 (UTC)


 * Different wikiprojects use different criteria for sourcing, so it would be a great image to add to Wikipedia commons whether or not the English Wikipedia accepts it as a source. Such an image would certainly come in handy if someone were to insist that they have a source that says it never grows more than 32 inches high.


 * Would it be possible to take a picture of the the largest one and then take another picture with it pulled up and laid down on the ground with a tape measure next to it, then a close up of the top that clearly shows the measured height? --Guy Macon (talk) 19:40, 20 May 2019 (UTC)


 * says that genetic analysis of strains of B. nigra obtained from different countries show that it has "high levels of polymorphism" and a "high level of genetic diversity". Different accessions had heights "115 vs. 200 cm". The CABI page for B. nigra says "When grown in a common garden experiment, invasive populations of B. nigra grew taller, were more massive, and produced lighter seeds than native populations of B. nigra independent of herbivory pressure." So the reason why sources differ could well be because they are describing different agricultural land races and/or populations adapted to different habitats, rather than the wild species in its native habitat. Peter coxhead (talk) 16:32, 21 April 2021 (UTC)

Four seeds
The number of seeds is not constant and as the picture shows it is commonly much larger than four.85.76.70.209 (talk) 23:55, 23 June 2023 (UTC)