Blue mustard

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Blue mustard

Blue mustard inflorescence

Blue mustard

Blue mustard

Blue mustard pods

Blue mustard flower

Blue mustard

Blue mustard leaves

Blue mustard leaves

Morphology

Stem

Erect, much-branched, rough, sparsely to moderately covered with minute gland-tipped hairs.

Leaves

Alternate above, nearly opposite below, simple, short-stalked, oblanceolate to lanceolate, 1.2 to 3.2 inches long; surfaces with minute gland-tipped hairs; margins wavy to coarsely-toothed.

Inflorescence

Raceme, terminal.

Flower

Sepals 4, erect, 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, in two opposite pairs; petals 4, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, diagonal to sepals, bluish-purple to pale lavender or nearly white.

Fruit

Pod, 1.2 to 1.8 inches long, curving upward, slightly constricted at intervals, several to many seeded, minutely covered with gland-tipped hairs; beak slender; seeds rectangular, one side flat and smooth, other side rounded.

Ecology

Habitat

Waste areas, roadsides, fallow cultivated fields, disturbed sites.

Distribution

Throughout Kansas.

Practical Information

Forage Value

Consumption of blue mustard can cause dairy cattle to produce off-flavor milk.

Uses

Ground-foraging birds and small mammals eat the seeds.

Additional Notes