Sisymbrium

Comparison Chart for Species of Sisymbrium, Capsella, Descurainia, & Hirschfeldia

Character

seed color

yellowish-brown to dull pale orange,
sometimes with green markings

tan to yellowish-brown,
with 2 red spots at hilar end

dark brown,
with lighter-colored radicle

yellowish-brown,
sometimes with green speckles

dark reddish-brown to golden brown,
with blackish
hilar end

golden to bright reddish-brown,
with red spot over cotyledons at hilar end

reddish-brown,
with blackish spot over cotyledons at hilar end

seed surface

variable (rough),
greasy

faintly reticulate, shiny

variable (rough),
greasy to shiny

variable (rough),
shiny

reticulate in rows,
shiny

reticulate in rows,
greasy to shiny

reticulate in rows,
semi-glossy

seed size
& shape

0.8–1.1 mm long
x 0.5–0.6 mm wide
x ca. 0.5 mm thick

oblong,
sometimes transversely ridged

0.8–1 mm long
x 0.5–0.6 mm wide
x 0.3–0.4 mm thick

ovoid to oblong

1–1.5 mm long
x 0.6–1 mm wide
x 0.4–0.6 mm thick

ovoid to oblong
to polygonal,
transversely ridged

1–1.5 mm long
x 0.7–0.9 mm wide
x 0.5–0.6 mm thick

squarish-oblong
to polygonal,
transversely ridged

0.9 –1.2 mm long
x 0.4–0.6 mm wide
x 0.3–0.4 mm thick

ovoid to oblong

0.7 –1.3 mm long
x 0.3–0.6 mm wide
x 0.4–0.5 mm thick

oblong,
sometimes transversely ridged

0.9–1.5 mm long
x 0.8–0.9 mm wide
x 0.6–0.7 mm thick

ovoid to
squarish-oblong

# of grooves per face

one or two

one

two

none or one