I am unable to identify the plant in the attached image, and would greatly appreciate any help folks on this forum can provide. The image(s) were taken in a marketplace in the Palestinian city of Jericho, in the West Bank. It's known in that region as Hewaireh or Hawerna, and grows in January/February, after it rains. The leaves look similar to White Wall Rocket (Diplotaxis erucoides), but the flower in the image looks yellow. Perennial Wall Rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) has a yellow flower but the leaves look different. The plant is processed via salting, kneading, and squeezing out moisture by hand to remove some bitterness. It's then mixed with yogurt, and eaten as an appetizer. There are a number of videos on YouTube that claim to show Hawerna being processed, but most of them look like they're using Dandelion greens, which are used as a substitute in the absence of Hawerna. Some folks say Hawerna is Wild Mustard greens, but the leaves are too different from what I see in the attached pictures. Thank you.
Well, this is definitely something in the mustard family (can tell by the fruits). There may be a challenge in comparing this photo against wild plant pics you may find online, as I think it is fair to say that Brassicaceae in cultivated situations can look far more robust than those that are challenged for water. If no answer here, and you're amenable to it, try the staff at Jerusalem Botanical Garden ; first have a look through their Brassicaceae images in their Garden Explorer: Garden Explorer | The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens If that doesn't work, try emailing Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir (his email address is on the bottom of those pages).
I live in California, and have picked the same in the Central Valley on the perimeter of vegetable fields and near grape vines. It's been a while though, but I might take a trip to try to get better images if I can find it again. The ones in the attached image are much larger than what I'm used to seeing, but that goes back to what you said, that the cultivation situation makes a difference. I used the Garden Explorer, but there was only one plant listed under Brassica, and while it looks similar, the leaves (when compared to better imagery of Brassica cretica on Google) look different. I will reach out to Dr. Fragman-Sapir. I suspect he's come across this plant seeing as he's in that region. Thank you for pointing me in his direction.
My apologies -- look for Brassicaceae (the plant family) in their Garden Explorer -- not Brassica (the genus). There are about 20 or so.
Thank you for pointing that out, I was able to go through all of them a little while ago, but still no dice. I'll update this thread with anything I learn as I go along. Thank you for your help!
