Skip to main content

Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system, WAHerb, and DBCA’s flora taxonomic names application, WACensus, have been set to read-only mode since 1 October 2025. Recent taxonomic changes are not currently being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or the census. Due to the rapidly approaching holiday season and associated agency and facility soft closures, along with the substantial work involved in data mapping, cleaning, and verification, the migration to the new collection management software is not expected to occur before 1 March 2026, when a further update will be provided. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 9:45 am on Friday, 12 December 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Monday, 2 March 2026 +08:00.

Advanced Search

Succowia Medik.

Reference
Pfl.-Gatt. 64 (1792)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Brassicaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs. Plants unarmed. Annual. Leaves cauline. Plants with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves; to 0.2–0.4 m high. Mesophytic. Leaves small to medium-sized; alternate; spiral; not decurrent on the stems; ‘herbaceous’, or fleshy; not imbricate; petiolate. Petioles wingless. Leaves non-sheathing; simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades deeply dissected; flat, or folded; pinnatifid, or much-divided (pinnati- or bipinnatisect); pinnately veined. Mature leaf blades glabrous; adaxially glabrous. Leaves without stipules. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present, or absent; glandular hairs absent; complex hairs absent. Branched hairs absent.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Floral nectaries present.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; not in pairs subtended by a common bract; in racemes. Inflorescences simple. The terminal inflorescence unit racemose. Inflorescences terminal; ascending. Flowers pedicellate; ebracteate; ebracteolate; small; regular; 2 merous. Floral receptacle with neither androphore nor gynophore. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 8; 3 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 4; 2 -whorled; polysepalous; erect; decussate; exceeded by the corolla; non-fleshy; non-accrescent. Corolla present; 4; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; imbricate, or contorted; regular; yellow; non-accrescent. Petals clawed. Androecium present. Fertile stamens present. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 6. Androecial members branched; free of the perianth; markedly unequal; free of one another; 2 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 6; tetradynamous; oppositisepalous; filantherous. Filaments not appendiculate. Anthers basifixed; non-versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; unilocular, or bilocular; tetrasporangiate; unappendaged. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Locules secondarily divided by ‘false septa’. Gynoecium transverse; stylate. Styles 1; simple; apical; persistent. Stigmas 1; commissural. Placentation parietal. Ovules 1 per locule.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit aerial; about 20 mm long; non-fleshy; spinose; dehiscent; a silicula. Capsules valvular. Fruit 2 celled. Dispersal unit the seed. Fruit 2 seeded. Seeds 1 per locule. Seeds not compressed (globose). Cotyledons 2; folded; conduplicate.

Physiology, biochemistry. Mustard-oils present.

Special features. Fruit body distinctly differentiated into valve and beak regions. Beak seedless. Replum present and complete; broad. Petals not peculiarly elongated as in Stenopetalum. Nectariferous glands lateral and median. Fruit not apically notched.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Holarctic. World distribution: Mediterranean. Adventive. Australian states and territories: Western Australia. 1 species in Western Australia; S. balearica (L.) Medicus.