2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Arugula (lat. Eruca sativa) - an annual plant belonging to the Cabbage family and growing on loosened dry soils. Eruka, indau or caterpillar - all these are also the names of arugula.
Description
Arugula is an annual plant that grows in height from thirty to sixty centimeters. Straight branchy stems of the plant, growing up to forty centimeters in height, are slightly pubescent.
Arugula leaves are rather fleshy and can be either naked or sparsely hairy. All of them have a very peculiar aroma. And the lower leaves equipped with toothed lobes are dissected or lyre-pinnate.
As for the inflorescences, they are long and rather rare brushes, on which are located pale yellow flowers with fancy purple veins (a little less often the flowers can be bright yellow). The length of their petals can vary from 15 to 22 mm, and the length of the sepals is from 9 to 12 mm. Inversely ovate-wedge-shaped sepals of arugula can sometimes have small indentations.
Arugula fruits are slightly compressed oblong or oval-oblong pods, sitting on short, slightly thickened legs and equipped with funny convex valves. Sharp longitudinal veins on fruits reach a length of two to three centimeters, and the size of their compressed xiphoid noses is about 5 to 10 mm. Light brownish or light brown seeds are 1, 5 - 3 mm in size and are arranged in two rows. Arugula usually blooms from May to July, and the fruits on this plant ripen from May to June.
Spreading
In the wild, arugula can be found in Central and Southern Europe, as well as in northern Africa. In Asia, this plant grows in India and in Central and Asia Minor. And on the territory of Russia, this vegetable crop is easy to find in its European part, as well as in Dagestan or in the foothills of the Caucasus. Also, this culture is quite widespread in the Mediterranean.
Application
In the Mediterranean, where arugula has been cultivated since Roman times, it has long been considered a potent aphrodisiac. This amazing plant is characterized by a pungent and rich taste. Arugula is most often used to make healthy salads and is a great addition to pastas and meat dishes. In Italy, this plant is actively used for making pizza (it is added immediately after cooking or just a few minutes before the end of the process), and in Slovenia it is added to traditional cheese pasties.
Arugula leaves are widely used as a seasoning for a wide variety of dishes, its seeds are used to make mustard, and many young shoots are eaten fresh. In addition, the seeds of this culture are not unsuccessfully used in Indian medicine - they are great help for abscesses and skin diseases, and the plant sap is an excellent assistant for nasal polyps, calluses, bruises, freckles and ulcers.
Growing and caring
To successfully grow arugula, slightly alkaline or neutral soils are required. At the same time, the soil should not be too fertilized, since this plant has the ability to quickly accumulate nitrates. Weakly acidic soils are necessarily lime, and if the plots are too acidic, then this culture will not grow at all.
Most often, arugula is planted in seedlings, but it is quite acceptable to sow seeds and immediately into open ground. The ideal temperature for the safe growth of arugula is considered to be eighteen degrees. And the crop must be harvested as the leaves grow.
Caring for this crop is almost identical to caring for spinach or salad - arugula needs systematic loosening, weeding and watering.
