Myagrum perfoliatum L., Sp. Pl. 640. 1753; Naithani et al. in Indian For. 104: 171, f. 1. 1978.

Herbs, erect, annual, 20 - 100 cm high; stems branched from base and above the middle, glabrous, glaucous. Leaves 2 - 4 cm long, entire; basal leaves oblong-oblanceolate, obtuse, sinuate-dentate to pinnatifid, petiolate; cauline leaves oblong to lanceolate, sessile and sagittate to cordate-amplexicaul at base, entire to denticulate along margins, acute at apex. Racemes ebracteate, erect. Flowers ca 6 mm long. yellow; fruiting pedicels clavately thickened, tightly appressed to stem, 4 - 5.5 mm long, very sturdy, hollow. Sepals ovate, erect or suberect, slightly saccate at base, ca 2 mm long. Petals oblong, not clawed, truncate or rounded at apex, 3 - 4.5 x 1.5 mm, yellow or cream-coloured. Stamens 6, the longer ones sometimes connate at base in pairs. Fruit an indehiscent silicula, clavate, comressed, more or less tuberculate-rugose, 3-loculed, 5 - 8 x 5 mm; upper 2 locules sterile, the lower one fertile with one or rarely two seeds; beak small, conical. Seed solitary, oblong or obovoid, pendulous, ca 3 mm long; cotyledons slightly incumbent.

Fl. & Fr. April - June.

Distrib. India: Uttar Pradesh.

C. & S. Europe and C. & S.W. Asia.