Charlock is an annual plant which grows on waste and arable ground and is found commonly throughout Ireland. It gros to a height of 150cm and bears dense, terminal clusters of flowers. These have 4 unnotched petals and sepals which are often down-turned. These racemes are borne on bristly, often dark red or purple stems. The lower leaves are stalked with a large terminal lobe and the few small upper leaves are unlobed. The seeds are in short cylindrical pods and have prominent beaks. This plant belongs to the Cabbage family.
I first found this plant at Cullenstown, Co Wexford in 2010 and photographed it near Hooh Head in the same county in 2012.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
