Brassicaceae is the official name of the family once known as Cruciferaceae, but the common name of the family is still the mustard family and vegetables are still referred to as crucifers. Characteristics: Alternate leaves; urn-like flowers in regular Maltese-cross form with four equal petals and sepals. Stamens: 6 (four tall, plus two short, attached at lower level); plants are branched from the base, and stems and leaves of many species are covered with stellate hairs; seedpods are either a silique or a silicle, both forms found only found in Brassicaceae.

Wild mustard (Brassica rapa) is a winter annual, one of the first wild flowering plants you will notice along roadsides of northern California in January; indeed, the fields and orchards that fill with blooming mustard are treated as a major tourist draw to places like Napa Valley for the Napa Valley Mustard Festival. Along with the yellow mustard plants, watch for the similar wild radish (Raphanus sativa) with pink, white, sometimes purplish flowers. Both of these plants are non-natives. Mustard plants are common in most parts of California all the way to the Mexican border, therefore they make a good plant to look at to see the family characteristics.

A plant you may have in your garden right now is sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima). This is a common nursery plant that adds a nice border to many local gardens—despite its being listed as an invasive weed! (It is common along the roadside if you drive Hwy 101 south and stop at most any scenic overlook.) You might want to pick one and take a really close look because that stamen arrangement is pretty distinctive.

Out around in the foothills find lace pod (Thysanocarpus curvipes) in abundance around disturbed areas like roadsides and such. This is a chance to see the silicle form of the pod. Early (March or April) trips to Pine Hill could provide you with an opportunity to find lace pod along the road to the top.

Draba verna is a plant listed at Traverse Creek, but I haven't yet found it myself; I need to try harder. You need to venture up to higher ground to find other draba and arabis plants. Cup Lake Draba (Draba asterophora var. macrocarpa), found only around Cup Lake in the Desolation Wilderness, is a rare species with no photo available on Calflora! Sounds like a challenge.

The Crucifers

Some kids may not agree but this is an important family. Food crops include brocolli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, all forms of radishes, horseradish, wasabi, turnips, and kress.

Ironically, local wild mustard is hardly good for anything! I have found a few places that talk about harvesting the seeds to mix into a table mustard, but nothing extolling the wonders of eating the plant. Mustard greens are better if bought at the produce market: it's a different kind of mustard plant.

The Romans most likely developed the prepared mustards we know today. They mixed unfermented grape juice, ( known as "must") with ground seeds (called sinapis) to form mustum ardens, or "burning must".

The radish gets its English name, as well as similar names in French and Italian, from radix, the Latin word for "root,'' especially a radish root. The technical name of the genus, Raphanus, is a Latinized form of an old Greek expression raphanos, freely translated as "easily reared"; radishes grow to edible form in about 21 days!

Earliest record of radish use was in Egypt (B.C.2700)

“During the pyramid building, workers were given enormous amounts of radish, garlic and onion. Herodotus has mentioned in his second book, Euterpe: ‘There is an inscription in Egyptian characters on the pyramid which records the quantity of radishes, onions, and garlic consumed by the laborers who constructed it; and I perfectly well remember that the interpreter who read the writing to me said that the money expended in this way was 1600 talents of silver.’
Only during the 20th century AD when an antibiotic preparation (Raphanin) has been extracted from radish, and Allicin and Allistatin from garlic and onion. A wise procedure undertaken in such an overcrowded camp.”
— Origin of Medical Practice

There are at least 40 species of Brassicaceae in El Dorado County, many of them weedy non-natives like pepper grass and, of course, the wild mustard and radish plants. The plants worth looking for during the hiking season are the jewel flowers (Streptanhus ssp.) Drabas, Arabis, wallflower (Erysimum), and Cardamine. Serpentine outcrops (like Traverse Creek or Studebaker Road) display Streptanthus polygaloides.