Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Cakile maritima Scop. subsp. maritima

Synonyms

Cakile maritima Scop.

Family

Fabaceae (Queensland, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory)
Fabaceae: subfamily - Faboideae (New South Wales)
Leguminosae (South Australia)
Papilionaceae (Western Australia)

Common Names

European sea rocket, European sea-rocket, European searocket, sea rocket, two-horned sea rocket, two-horned sea-rocket

Origin

Native to Europe (i.e. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Croatia, France, Portugal and Spain), the Canary Islands, northern Africa (i.e. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia) and western Asia (i.e. Iran, Syria, Turkey, Georgia and southern Russia).

Naturalised Distribution

Naturalised mainly in the coastal districts of southern Australia, from central and southern NSW, through Victoria and South Australia to southern and western Western Australia. Also common along the coasts of Tasmania, ocassional in western New South Wales and sparingly naturalised in Queensland.

Notes

European sea rocket (Cakile maritima subsp. maritima) is a common annual weed of coastal environs (i.e. in foredunes, along seashores and on offshore islands) and is regarded as an environmental weed in Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales. It is occasionally also found in sandy inland areas (e.g. near Broken Hill in south-western New South Wales).

This species hybridises with American sea rocket (Cakile edentula) and intermediates between the two plants are common or dominant in some areas.