Annual. Root tuberous, edible. Stems erect, 25–100 cm high, sparsely bristly. Sepals 6–10 mm long, erect; petals 15–25 mm long, white to purple with dark veins. Fruit erect to spreading, 2–9 cm long (including beak), 8–15 mm wide; valves inflated, spongy, scarcely or irregularly constricted between seeds, not breaking into 1-seeded units; beak conical, 8–20 mm long; pedicel 4–21 mm long; seeds usually 5–12, c. 3 mm long, dark brown.
VVP, GipP, DunT, HSF. Also an occasional garden-escape in SA, Qld, NSW, Tas., Europe, Asia, North and South America. Natural range unknown but widely cultivated for over 4000 years. Flowers autumn-spring.
Usually a non-persistent escapee from gardens, rubbish tips, etc. The size of the taproot is variable, its succulence reportedly diminished by longer (summer) days.
Source:
Entwisle, T.J. (1996). Brassicaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae, pp. 399–459. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
