Agrobiological potential of some soil crucifers of Lithuania’s spontaneous flora

Abstract

A total of 56 seed samples of five spontaneus Brassicaceae species – flixweed (Descurainia sophia L.), wallflower mustard (Erysimum cheiranthoides L.), fanweed (Thlaspi arvense L.), sea rocket (Cakile baltica Jord. ex Pobed.) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb.)) were collected in different regions of Lithuania. The samples were sown in autumn (2008–2009) and spring (2009–2010) in the fields of Experimental Station of Lithuanian University of Agriculture on a Calc(ar)i-Epihypogleyic Luvisol (LVg-p-w-cc). Phenological observations and assessment of productivity parameters were performed. All the investigated autumn-sown species, except for T. arvense, produced higher stems and surpassed spring-sown plants in productivity parameters. Meanwhile, for T. arvense the weather conditions had greater influence than sowing time. The most stable parameters for the study period were the amount of oil in seeds (V = 6.3–11.3) and the number of silicles per inflorescence (V = 20.7– 43.2). The most unstable parameters were the number of inflorescences (V = 30.93–94.4) and seed yield per plant (V = 16.5–135.0). D. sophia (6.4 ± 0.9 g) exhibited the highest single plant productivity and stability of features. Among the studied species E. cheiranthoides distinguished itself by the highest (37.8 ± 2.6% DM (dry mass) and the most stable (V = 6.9) oil content in the seeds.