Sisymbrium irio L., Sp. Pl. 659. 1753; Hook. f. & T. Anderson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 150. 1872. S. irioides Boiss. in Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 2, 17: 76. 1842.

Hindi: Asalio, Khub-khala.

Herbs, annual or biennial, erect, 15 - 85 cm high, branched, glabrous or sparsely hairy or pubescent at base. Radical leaves petioled, numerous in rosette, pinnatipartite; cauline leaves runcinate-pinnatifid; segments remote, spreading, toothed; terminal lobes large, sometimes hastate. Racemes 40 - 80 or sometimes more flowered, up to 25 cm long in fruit. Flowers ca 3 mm across, yellow; pedicels slender, ascending, 0.6 - 1.5 cm long in fruit. Sepals ca 2 mm long. Petals ca 3 mm long. Stamens ca 3 mm long. Fruit siliqua, ascending, slender, subtorulose, 3 - 5 cm long, young ones overtopping raceme, mature ones 3-nerved; stigma sessile. Seeds 20 - 40 in each locule, oblong, minutely granulate, light brown.

Fl. & Fr. Nov. - May.

Distrib. India: Plains to hills. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, unjab and Rajasthan.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, most of Asia, Europe and North Africa.

Notes. Seeds containing isorhamnetin are expectorant and stimulating. Leaves contain Vitamin A and C.