charlock

American  

[chahr-luhk] / ˈtʃɑr lək /

noun

1. a wild mustard, Brassica kaber, having lobed, ovate leaves and clusters of small, yellow flowers, often troublesome as a weed in grainfields.

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charlock British  

/ ˈtʃɑːlɒk /

noun

1. Also called: wild mustard.  a weedy Eurasian plant, Sinapis arvensis (or Brassica kaber ), with hairy stems and foliage and yellow flowers: family: Brassicaceae (crucifers)

2. Also called: wild radish.   runch.  a related plant, Raphanus raphanistrum, with yellow, mauve, or white flowers and podlike fruits

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Etymology

Origin of charlock

before 1000; Middle English cherlok, Old English cerlic < ?

Example Sentences

The earth was soft and crumbling, with a scattering of the weeds that are found in cultivated fields—fumitory, charlock, pimpernel and mayweed, all growing in the green gloom under the bean leaves.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

But, indeed, their colours were growing in profusion at their feet when they came out of the trenches—yellow charlock, crimson poppies and blue cornflowers, and many put bunches of these wild flowers in their tunics.

From The Irish on the Somme Being a Second Series of 'The Irish at the Front' by MacDonagh, Michael

And he had kept on telling Jerrold what crops were to be sown after the wheat, swedes to come first, and vetch after the swedes, to crowd out the charlock.

From Anne Severn and the Fieldings by Sinclair, May

The charlock seems late this year; it is generally up well before June—the first flowers by the roadside or rickyard, in a waste dry corner.

From The Toilers of the Field by Jefferies, Richard

The pale clear yellow of charlock, sharp and clear, promises the finches bushels of seed for their young. 

From Pageant of Summer by Jefferies, Richard