Black mustard (Brassica nigra) is an annual weedy plant cultivated for its seeds, which are commonly used as a spice. It is commonly used in Indian cuisine, for example in curry. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families See text The Brassicales are an order of flowering plants, belonging to the rosid group of dicotyledons. ... Genera See text The flowering plant family Brassicaceae, known as the mustard/cabbage family, provides much of the worlds winter vegetables. ... Species See text Brassica is a plant genus, in the cabbage family Brassicaceae (formerly the Cruciferae). ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... A painting of Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné, and who wrote under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish scientist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. ... An annual is a plant that usually germinates, flowers and dies in one year. ... In ecology, a weedy species is a species that lives in a wide variety of ecologies, including unstable ones and those damaged by humans. ... Screen shot of Spice OPUS, a fork of Berkeley SPICE SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuits Emphasis) is a general purpose analog circuit simulator. ... Regional cuisines Indian cuisine can be broken down into three distinct regional styles: Due to Indias geography, wheat is a staple of North Indian foods, while rice is the primary constituent of Southern and Eastern foods. ... An Indian chicken curry A curry is any of a great variety of distinctively spiced dishes, best-known in Indian and Thai cuisine, but found in many other countries. ...

Black mustard is believed to be native to the southern Mediterranean region of Europe, and has been cultivated for thousands of years. It has racemes of yellow flowers. The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... This inflorescence of the terrestrial orchid Spathoglottis plicata is a typical raceme. ... Wildflowers A flower is the reproductive organ of those plants classified as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ...

The spice is generally made from ground seeds of the plant, with the seed coats removed. The seeds vary in color from dark brown to black. A SeeD is a term given to mercenaries trained and employed by Balamb Garden in the Final Fantasy VIII video game. ...

Since the 1950s, black mustard has become less popular as compared to brown mustard (Brassica juncea) because some cultivars of brown mustard have seeds that can be mechanically harvested in a more efficient manner.

Similar plants

Black mustard is similar to white mustard (Sinapis), although black mustard has smaller seeds. Black mustard belongs to the same genus as cabbage. Sinapis alba, also known as white mustard, is a flowering plant of the Brassicaceae family. ... See genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. ... Cultivar Group Brassica oleracea Capitata Group The cabbage ( Brassica oleracea Capitata Group) is an edible plant of the Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae). ...

See also

• Mustard, Mustard seed
• Sinapis

Wild Mustard (Brassica campestris) The mustards are several species in the genus Brassica whose proverbially tiny mustard seeds are used as a spice and, by grinding and mixing them with water, vinegar or other liquids, are turned into a condiment also known as mustard. ... Mustard seeds are small, about 1mm in diameter. ... Sinapis alba, also known as white mustard, is a flowering plant of the Brassicaceae family. ...

External link

• Entry in Gernot Katzer's spice pages (http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Bras_nig.html), with pictures and detailed information