In season through

Native range:

Khardal barri (from Arabic: خردل بري), wild mustard, wild arugula or London rocket is an introduced mustard and abundant winter weed in the urban desert Southwest.

These leaves pack a wasabi-like bite. To some, it's best used sparingly as an herb. But if you like wasabi as much as I do, you can eat the tender leaves as a spicy salad green!

Khardal prefers disturbed soil. During the cool months it can be found nearly everywhere, but leaves grow largest and tastiest where they receive some shade and runoff. Look on the north sides of walls for plants with large, tender leaves.

During dryer winters, khardal is found mostly in places that collect runoff or receive irrigation. Following heavy rain and snow, it grows ubiquitously.

Khardal can be confused with sow thistle (Sonchus sp.) or prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola), which can have similar leaf shapes. Sow thistle and prickly lettuce are edible but very bitter. They leak a white sap when cut, which khardal does not.

Khardal is native to arid parts of the Middle East and Mediterranean region. How did this desert plant gain the English name "London Rocket"? While this plant is neither native to nor well-adapted to Britain, it grew in abundance in London after the Great Fire of 1666, thriving on the disturbance and perhaps the soil pH increase from ash. Its abundance was brief, and today, it is rarely seen in the UK. In London, the plant was never widely consumed or used, treated as little more than a botanical curiosity by British naturalists.

In its native range, Khardal is used for food and medicine by various indigenous groups, including the Bedouin and other Arabic speaking peoples. Given the inaccuracy of "London Rocket"—not to mention its poor taste given the history of British Imperialism in the Middle East —I prefer a name sourced from its true place of origin. Thus, khardal barri (Arabic: خردل بري pronounced with a rolled double r) which simply means "wild mustard," and is one of many indigenous names for this plant. ("Wild mustard" or simply "mustard" are commonly used names in Albuquerque, though they can be somewhat ambiguous as we also have several native mustard family plants.)