Plants of the Bible: Black mustard
Brassica nigra, Sinapis nigra, Black mustard, Shortpod mustard,
Hebrew: כרוב שחור, Arabic: البراسيكا السوداء, Egypt: لسبن “Lisban”
| Scientific name: | Brassica nigra (L.) W.D.J.Koch | |
| Synonym name: | Sinapis nigra L. | |
| Common name: | Black mustard, Shortpod mustard | |
| Hebrew name: | כרוב שחור | |
| Arabic name: | البراسيكا السوداء | |
| Egypt: | لسبن “Lisban” | |
| Family: | Cruciferae / Brassicaceae, מצליביפ |
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| Life form: | Annual | |
| Stems: | 60 cm tall; usually glabrous and glaucous; sometimes they have scattered stiff hairs toward the base | |
| Leaves: | Alternate, rosette, dissected, dentate or serrate | |
| Flowers: | Hermaphrodite, yellow | |
| Fruits / pods: | Siliqua appressed to stem; reddish to dark brown; broadly oblong or slightly flattened; thick raised reticulations, glossy concave interspaces, and minute stipples | |
| Flowering Period: | April, May, June, July | |
| Habitat: | Batha, Phrygana | |
| Distribution: | Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon | |
| Chorotype: | Mediterranean | |
| Summer shedding: | Ephemeral |
| Derivation of the botanical name:
Brassica, the classical Latin name for cabbage.
nigra, black.
The Romans are the first to be credited with making mustard in the way we know it today. They mixed the ground seeds with grape juice; the word “mustard” derives from mustum, “grape must,” and ardens, “burning,” mustum ardens– hence “must ard”. The seeds of the Brassica nigra make the table mustard. Bible resources:
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