Arugula (American English) or rocket (Commonwealth English) is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used as a leaf vegetable for its fresh, tart, bitter, and peppery flavor. Its other common names include garden rocket (in Britain, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, and New Zealand), and eruca. It also is called ruchetta, rucola, rucoli, rugula, colewort, and roquette. E. vesicaria is widely popular as a salad vegetable and it is a species of Eruca native to the Mediterranean region