Vern.: Mooli.

Annual or biennial, with a slender, tuberous tap-root; stem 20-90 cm tall, erect, branched, ± hispid below and glabrous above. Lower leaves lyrate-pinna¬tifid, long stalked, very variable, 3-5-jugate; terminal lobe suborbicular with rounded apex and crenate margin; lateral lobes much shorter, alternate, oblong-ovate, obtuse, dentate; upper most leaves often simple, linear or oblong, small, dentate, subsessile or sessile. Racemes 10-30 (-50)-flowered, up to 40 cm long in fruit. Flowers 15-20 mm across, usually white or violet; pedicel 5-10 mm long, increasing up to 20 mm in fruit. Sepals 6-8 mm long, 1.5-2 mm broad, oblong, subequal, inner pair somewhat saccate at the base. Petals 15-20 mm long, 5-7 mm broad, obovate, long clawed, apex subemarginate. Stamens 7-9: 10-12 mm long; anthers 2-3 mm long, Siliquae (15-) 20-60 mm long, 4-5 mm broad, oblong ellip¬soid with a 9-20 mm long, conical, seedless beak; valves spongy, thickened, hardly constricted between the seeds, not breaking into 1-seeded parts; seeds 6-12, sub-globose uniseriate, c. 2 mm in diam., brown, reticulated. Lower part of siliquae 1-3.5 mm long, stalk-like, sterile, bilocular with a complete septum.

Fl.Per.: Jan.-April

Type: Probably described from Lebanon.

Distribution: A widely cultivated plant of doubtful origin and nowhere found wild. Centre of origin Mediterranean region.

Several races of radish, primarily distinguished by the size and shape of the tuberous roots, are known and cultivated during winter for food. It is not possible to say anything about these from the herbarium specimens which lack the root portion usually.