Diplotaxis harra

Diplotaxis harra, a wall rocket of the family Brassicaceae, is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native across North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Near East. It grows from a slender taproot, producing erect, branching stems up to about 60 cm tall that are often roughly hairy toward the base. The leaves are mostly basal or borne low on the stem, oblong in outline and pinnately lobed or toothed, with a pungent, peppery scent and taste typical of the rocket group. The four-petalled flowers are yellow, arranged in elongating racemes, and have the cruciform symmetry characteristic of the mustard family. The fruit is a long, narrow, two-valved silique held more or less erect, containing small seeds in two rows. A hardy plant of arid and disturbed ground, roadsides, and field margins, it tolerates poor, dry, often saline soils and flowers chiefly in spring.