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You are viewing an archived site. The Chesapeake Bay Introduced Species Database project ended in 2020 and the database is no longer receiving updates. Learn more…
Image of Barbarea vulgaris

Barbarea vulgaris

Plants

Yellow Rocket

Yellow Rocket is a lovely looking ‘wildflower’ common in many fields and roadsides. It was spotted in Baltimore around 1837 and soon after in Washington DC and beyond. Yellow Rocket is not usually considered to be an aquatic plant but it has been reported from the upper parts of Brent Marsh on the Potomac and along beach margins in Kent County, MD, which is why it is listed in the database as a boundary resident. It is an agricultural weed that was likely brought over from Europe on a wooden sailing ship. One could imagine the seeds being mixed in with the hay used to feed the livestock brought across the Atlantic. Agriculturally, it has had significant impacts and is listed as a noxious weed in 35 states.

Image Credit: Paul Fofonoff

Taxonomy Invasion History Ecology Impacts References

Description


Taxonomy

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Plantae Magnoliophyta Magnoliopsida Capparales Brassicaceae Barbarea

Synonyms

Barbarea arcuata; Barbarea stricta; Barbarea vulgaris var. arcuata; Campe barbarea; Campe stricta

Invasion History

Chesapeake Bay Status

First Record Population Range Introduction Residency Source Region Native Region Vectors
1837 Established Stable Introduced Boundary Resident Europe Eurasia Shipping(Dry Ballast), Agriculture(Agricultural Weed)

History of Spread

Barbarea vulgaris (Yellow Rocket) is a European plant, found from northern Scandinavia to the Mediterranean (Swedish Natural History Museum 2001), and probably is Mediterranean in origin (MacDonald and Cavers 1991). It was introduced to North America, probably around 1800. By 1848, in the northeast United States, it was reported from 'moist fields and roadsides, common' (Gray 1848). It is now widespread across North America south to FL and AR, and is abundant in the northeast and northwest United States, but patchy in the central United States (United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service 1971; MacDonald and Cavers 1991). Barbarea vulgaris is found in most temperate, cultivated regions (MacDonald and Cavers 1991), and is reported from 33 states (Natural Resources Conservation Service 1998).

Barbarea vulgaris is not mentioned in Brereton (1830) for Washington DC, but listed in Aikin (1837) for Baltimore and all subsequent Washington DC-Baltimore floras. It is not usually considered to be an aquatic plant, but it has been reported from the upper parts of oligohaline Brent Marsh, on the Potomac (Strong and Kelloff 1994), and from beach margins in Kent County, MD (Krauss et al. 1971).

History References - Agricultural Research Service 1971; Aikin 1837; Brereton 1830; Gray 1848; Krauss et al. 1971; MacDonald and Cavers 1991; Strong and Kelloff 1994

Invasion Comments

Native Region- Barbarea vulgaris (Yellow Rocket) is now widespread in Europe; still expanding in Russia (MacDonald and Cavers 1991).

Ecology

Environmental Tolerances

For SurvivalFor Reproduction
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Temperature (ºC)
Salinity (‰) 0.0 0.0
Oxygen
pH
Salinity Range fresh-oligo

Age and Growth

Male Female
Minimum Adult Size (mm)
Typical Adult Size (mm)
Maximum Adult Size (mm)
Maximum Longevity (yrs)
Typical Longevity (yrs

Reproduction

Start Peak End
Reproductive Season
Typical Number of Young
Per Reproductive Event
Sexuality Mode(s)
Mode(s) of Asexual
Reproduction
Fertilization Type(s)
More than One Reproduction
Event per Year
Reproductive Startegy
Egg/Seed Form

Impacts

Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay

Barbarea vulgaris (Yellow Rocket) has had no economic impacts, in Chesapeake bay. It is an important agricultural weed, especially in the Piedmont region (Brown and Brown 1984), but also a nutritious wild 'green' (MacDonald and Cavers 1991).

References- Brown and Brown 1984; MacDonald and Cavers 1991


Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay

Barbarea vulgaris (Yellow Rocket) is an important weed of grain, hay, and legume-grass meadows in the northeast United States and southeast Canada (Agricultural Research Service 1971; MacDonald and Cavers 1991). It is included in noxious weed lists of 35 states (Natural Resources Convervation Service 2001).

References- MacDonald and Cavers 1991; Agricultural Research Service 1971; Natural Resources Convervation Service 2001


Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species

Barbarea vulgaris (Yellow Rocket) is probably too rare and local in the intertidal zone to have had significant impacts, but is an important weed, and a competitor with native plants, in disturbed upland habitats (Brown and Brown 1984).

References- Brown and Brown 1984


Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species

Barbarea vulgaris (Yellow Rocket) is probably too rare and local in the intertidal zone to have had significant impacts, but is an important weed, and a competitor with other exotic plants, in disturbed upland habitats (Brown and Brown 1984).

References- Brown and Brown 1984


References

Agricultural Research Service (1971) Common weeds of the United States., In: (Eds.) . , Washington, D.C.. Pp.

Aikin, W. E. A. (1837) Catalogue of phenogamous plants and ferns, native or naturalized, growing in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland., Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and Literature 1: 55-91

Brereton, J. A. (1830) Prodromus of the Flora Columbiana, , Washington, D.C.. Pp.

Brown, Melvin L.; Brown, Russell G. (1984) Herbaceous Plants of Maryland, , College Park. Pp.

Fernald, Merritt L. (1950) Gray's Manual of Botany, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.

Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur (1991) Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , Bronx, New York. Pp.

Gray, Asa (1848) A manual of botany of the northern United States., In: (Eds.) . , Boston. Pp.

Harvill, A. M.; Bradley, Ted R.; Stevens, Charles E.; Wieboldt, Thomas F.; Ware, Donna M. E.; Ogle, Douglas W.; Ramsey, Gwynn W.; Fleming, Gary P. (1992) Atlas of the Virginia Flora, , Burkeville, VA. Pp.

Kartesz, John T. (1994) A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland., In: (Eds.) . , Portland OR. Pp.

Krauss, R.W.; Brown, R. G.; Rappleye, R. D.; Owens, A. B.; Shearer, C.; Hsiao, E.; Reveal, J. (1971) Checklist of plant species occurring within the hightide limits of the Chesapeake Bay, and its tributaries., , College Park, Maryland. Pp.

MacDonald, Marilyn A.; Cavers, Paul B. (1991) The biology of Canadian weeds. 97. Barbarea vulgaris., Canadian Journal of Plant Science 71: 149-166

1997-2024 USDA PLANTS Database.. Onine databse

Strong, Mark T.; Kelloff, Carol L. (1994) Intertidal vascular plants of Brent Marsh, Potomac River, Stafford County, Virginia, Castanea 59: 354-366


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