White wall rocket
Diplotaxis erucoides
Family · Brassicaceae · Harmless
The white that covers inland olive groves and vineyards in the middle of winter, when almost nothing else flowers. It tastes strongly of rocket, and is literally its cousin.
Fields and pasture · Town and roadside · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known aswhite rocket
How to tell it
Four white petals in a cross, often purple-veined, over a rosette of lobed leaves. A clear rocket smell and taste when you bite a leaf. A long thin pod.
What it is confused with
Shepherd's purse
Capsella bursa-pastoris
Both white-flowered and both edible. The fruit separates them effortlessly: long and thin here, a flat heart on shepherd's purse.
Open sheet →What it is for
Young leaves in salad, peppery, and cooked in several regions of Spain and Italy. It counts as an olive-grove weed and is an excellent winter nectar plant.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.