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Bengal Field-Cress
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Bengal Field-Cress
A Native Unknown Photo: Thingnam Girija
Common name: Bengal Field-Cress • Assamese: Bil-rai • Bengali: Bil-rai
Botanical name: Rorippa benghalensis    Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard family)
Synonyms: Nasturtium benghalense, Nasturtium indicum var. benghalense

Bengal Field-Cress is an annual herb, 15-65 cm tall, hairless or sparsely to densely hairy. Flowers are yellow, borne in many-flowered racemes. Petals are pale yellow, spoon-shaped or inverted-lanceshaped, 2-2.5 x 0.5-0.9 mm, tip rounded. Filaments 2-2.5 mm; anthers oblong, 0.4-0.5 mm. Sepals are elliptic or oblong, 1.5-2 x 0.5-0.8 mm. Fruiting flower-stalks are rising up or divaricate, slender, straight, 3-6.5 mm. Stems are simple at base, few to many branched above. Basal leaves are soon withered. Lowermost stem leaves are eared; leaf-stalks up to 3 cm; leaf blade oblong or oblong-obovate in outline, lyrate-pinnately parted, 2.5-12 x 1-4 cm; end lobe broadly ovate or oblong, 1-5 x 0.7-3 cm; lateral lobes 1-4, oblong or ovate, up to 2 x 1 cm, margin sawtoothed or toothed. Upper leaves are stalkless, progressively reduced in size upward into bracts. Fruit is linear, straight or curved, 0.7-1.7 cm x 1.2-1.6 mm; style 0.3-0.8 mm. Bengal Field-Cress is found in E. Central Himalaya to China (S. Yunnan) and Indo-China, Jawa to Lesser Sunda Islands, at altitudes up to 1800 m. Flowering: March-July.

Identification credit: Tabish Photographed near Tsomgo Lake, Sikkim.

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