Flowers in Israel: Buckler Mustard

Biscutella didyma, Buckler Mustard,
Hebrew: מצלתיים מצויות , Arabic: بسكوتيلا زوجية

Scientific name:   Biscutella didyma L.
Synonym name:   Biscutella columnae Ten., Biscutella ciliata DC., Biscutella apula L.
Common name   Buckler Mustard
Hebrew name:   מצלתיים מצויות
Arabic name:   بسكوتيلا زوجية
Plant Family:   Cruciferae / Brassicaceae, מצליבים


Life form:   Annual
Stems:   15-50 cm; erect, simple or branched, hirsute with stiff hairs
Leaves:   Alternate, rosette arrangement, entire dentate or serrate leaves
Flowers:   Yellow
Fruits / pods:   Silicula, a dry dehiscent fruit; fruit valves flat, orbicular, glabrous or pubescent with short clavate hairs, 1-seeded, indehiscent; radicles accumbent
Flowering Period:   January, February, March, April, December
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana, Shrub-steppes
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Biscutella, Latin, bis, twice; scutella, a small flat dish; in allusion to the form of the fruits.

didyma, Greek, didymos, διδυμοϛ, double; two fruited.
columnae, named for the 16th century Italian botanist Fabio Colonna (Latin: Fabius Columnus).
ciliata, fringed with hairs, ciliate.
apula, from Apulia, (now Puglia) north of Calabria, area in south-east Italy on the Adriatic Sea.
The Hebrew word: מצלתיים, Metziltaim, from מְצִלְתַּיִם, Metziltaim, dual cymbals, the fruits are cymbals-like.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Ten. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation DC. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.