Rocket

Rocket, a name given to a number of plants of the natural order Cruciferae, and belonging to the genera Brassica, Sisymbrium, Erysimum, Barbarea, Hesperis, &c. Garden Rocket (Brassica Eruca, or Eruca sativa) is an annual plant, a native of Austria, with stem 2 feet high, upright and branching; the leaves smooth, succulent, cut and toothed. When in flower it has a strong, peculiar, and disagreeable smell; but when it is very young this smell is almost imperceptible, and the leaves are used as a salad, for which it is frequently sown on the continent of Europe, and was formerly cultivated also in Britain. The name Garden Rocket is given also to Hesperis matronalis, also called Dame's Violet (q.v.), a favourite ornament of our flower-borders. The Yellow Rocket of our flower-borders is a double-flowered variety of Barbarea vulgaris (see CRESS). The Wild Rocket (Sisymbrium officinale, or Erysimum officinale) is common in Britain, and is sometimes sown and used as a spring potherb.