Diplotaxis tenuifolia Perennial Wall-rocket

A perennial, yellow flowered crucifer which grows on sand dunes and in waste places. The winter-green foliage has a strong smell of burnt rubber when crushed like Annual Wall-rocket (Diplotaxis muralis). The bright yellow, four-petalled flowers are similar to those of Wallflower Cabbage (Coincya monensis ssp. cheiranthos), a plant with which it might be confused, especially since both species occur on sand dunes, but the crushed leaves of Wallflower Cabbage do not have a burnt rubber smell and its foliage is more dissected. The distribution of Perennial Wall-rocket in Britain is similar to that of Annual Wall-rocket, with the densest populations in the southeast of England. It is mostly a lowland coastal species in Wales and in West Glamorgan it is largely a plant of the sand dunes of Swansea Bay. Like other Diplotaxis species, Perennial Wall-rocket contains a variety of interesting, bioactive phytochemicals such as glucosinolates and phenolic compounds which have ani-oxidant, anti-inflamatory and anti-bacterial activities.

Archaeophyte