Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.

vernacular brown mustard — species · Brassicaceae

USDA: BRJU
GBIF: 3042751
Rank: species

brown mustard (Brassica juncea) — Platephotograph · Dinesh ValkeCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Annual, Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Brassicaceae Burnett
Genus: Brassica

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Introduced
CAN Canada Introduced
HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Introduced
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 14 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 14 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: None
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 17 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 130 min.
Precipitation: 30–80 in/yr
pH range: 6–7.2
Root depth: 6 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Crown
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 4 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Dark Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 283,040
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: Yes
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 14 counties across 2 states/territories.

Montana view state ↗ 13 I ▾

Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 I ▾

Providence 44007

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/BRJU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3042751 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z