Taxon: Sinapis alba L. subsp. alba

Summary

Genus:

Sinapis

Family:

Brassicaceae (alt. Cruciferae)

Tribe:

Brassiceae

Nomen number:

316130

Verified:

07/15/2010 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

26 (8 active, 8 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Sinapis alba L. (124 active accession[s])
Sinapis alba L. subsp. dissecta (Lag.) Simonk. (0 active accession[s])
Sinapis alba L. subsp. mairei (H. Lindb.) Maire (2 active accession[s])

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Autonym(s)
Sinapis alba L. var. alba

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Brassica alba (L.) Rabenh.

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Brassica hirta Moench
Sinapis alba L. var. melanosperma Alef.

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988) Note: four books on weeds worldwide in scope
Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. 1998. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning Note: poisonous
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Hasterok, R. et al. 2006. Comparative analysis of rDNA distribution in chromosomes of various species of Brassicaceae. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 97:205-216.
Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: as Brassica hirta
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Riley, W. W. 2004. The Canadian biodiesel industry: an analysis of potential feedstocks. 1-16. Note: re. potential use as a fuel substitute
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1993. Flora europaea, ed. 2.
University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. UC SAREP on-line cover crop database (on-line resource).
Uphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2.
Warwick, S. I. et al. 2006. Brassicaceae: Species checklist and database on CD-Rom. Pl. Syst. Evol. 259:249-258. Note: lists in database
Winter, H. 2011. Chapter 17. Sinapis. In: Kole, C., ed., Wild crop relatives: genomic and breeding resources, oilseeds 275-288. Note: mentions

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	white mustard	1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 686.
French	moutarde blanche	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
German	weißer Senf	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Italian	senape bianca	2	International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
Portuguese	mostarda-branca	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	mostaza blanca	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedish	vitsenap	2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Transcribed Chinese	bai jie	2	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Morocco			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Ukraine	Krym		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Austria			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Belgium			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Germany			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Netherlands			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Poland			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Middle Europe	Switzerland			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Northern Europe	Denmark			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Northern Europe	Ireland			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Northern Europe	Norway			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Northern Europe	Sweden			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Northern Europe	United Kingdom			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Albania			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Bulgaria			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Croatia			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Greece		incl. Crete	Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Italy		incl. Sardinia, Sicily	Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Turkey	Edirne		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	France		incl. Corsica	Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Portugal			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
1	Native	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Spain		incl. Baleares	Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated					widely cult.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Macaronesia	Portugal	Azores		Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. 1993. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Macaronesia	Spain	Canarias		Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. 1993. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17.
4	Naturalized	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Eastern Cape		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Arabian Peninsula	Saudi Arabia			Miller, A. G. & T. A. Cope. 1996-. Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China			Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Eastern Asia	Japan			Iwatsuki, K. et al. 1993-. Flora of Japan.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Tajikistan			Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Turkmenistan			Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Iran			Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Iraq			Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Uttar Pradesh		Sharma, B. D. et al., eds. 1993-. Flora of India.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Pakistan		n.	Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Vietnam			Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
4	Naturalized	Australasia	Australia	Australia			George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
4	Naturalized	Australasia	New Zealand	New Zealand			Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
4	Naturalized	Europe	Middle Europe	Hungary			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Romania			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Spain			Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Northern America		Canada			FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America		Mexico			FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America		United States			FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Subarctic America	Greenland			FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Barbados			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Guadeloupe			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Martinique			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina	Buenos Aires		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina	Tierra del Fuego		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.

Native
Africa

NORTHERN AFRICA: Morocco

Europe

NORTHERN EUROPE: Denmark, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden
MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Poland
EASTERN EUROPE: Ukraine [Krym]
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece (incl. Crete), Croatia, Italy (incl. Sardinia, Sicily), Turkey [Edirne]
SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain (incl. Baleares), France (incl. Corsica), Portugal

Cultivated (widely cult.)
Naturalized
Africa

MACARONESIA: Spain [Canarias], Portugal [Azores]
SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa [Eastern Cape]

Asia-Temperate

ARABIAN PENINSULA: Saudi Arabia
WESTERN ASIA: Iran, Iraq
MIDDLE ASIA: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
CHINA: China
EASTERN ASIA: Japan

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India [Uttar Pradesh], Pakistan (n.)
INDO-CHINA: Vietnam

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand

Europe

MIDDLE EUROPE: Hungary
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Romania
SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain

Northern America

SUBARCTIC AMERICA: Greenland
REGION: Canada, Mexico, United States

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Martinique, United States [Puerto Rico]
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina [Buenos Aires, Tierra del Fuego]

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. 2012. Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98
Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. 1993. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Iwatsuki, K. et al. 1993-. Flora of Japan.
Miller, A. G. & T. A. Cope. 1996-. Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra.
Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
Sharma, B. D. et al., eds. 1993-. Flora of India.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Animal food	forage		Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1993. Flora europaea, ed. 2.
Environmental	soil improver	as Brassica hirta	University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. UC SAREP on-line cover crop database (on-line resource).
Food additives	flavoring	source of mustard condiment	Uphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2.
Fuels	petroleum substitute/alcohol	potential	Riley, W. W. 2004. The Canadian biodiesel industry: an analysis of potential feedstocks. 1-16. Note: re. potential use as a fuel substitute
Human food	oil/fat		Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Medicines	folklore		Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	folklore	as Sinapis alba	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Vertebrate poisons	mammals		Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. 1998. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning Note: poisonous
Vertebrate poisons	mammals	to livestock	Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: as Brassica hirta
Weed			CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988) Note: four books on weeds worldwide in scope

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=316130. Accessed 14 May 2026.