Scientific name: Cochlearia officinalis L.
Common name: Common Scurvygrass
Description
Habit: A robust biennial, up to 30 cm, and usually greater than 13 cm high.
Stems: Erect, spreading stems.
Leaves: Fleshy; basal leaves stalked, large, entire, broadly triangular to broadly round; upper leaves toothed, usually clasping the stem.
Flowers: Mauve or white, actinomorphic, 5-8 mm across, in crowded racemes; sepals 4, free; petals 4, free, less than 4-5 mm long; ovary superior.
Fruits: A silique, 3-7 mm, globular to ovoid.
Habitat: Maritime rocks, salt-marshes, gravelly seashores and other littoral habitats, rarely on mountain tops.
Distribution: Frequent around the coastal regions.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No
Subspecies:
Cochlearia officinalis subsp. officinalis
C. officinalis subsp. scotica (Druce) P.S. Wyse Jacks.
Subsp. officinalis has larger flowers, normally 8 mm across, upper leaves that clasp the stem and a globular fruit. Subsp. scotica has smaller flowers, 5-6 mm across, petals less than 4 mm long, upper leaves not clasping the stem and an ovoid fruit which is narrowed at both ends.