BOTANICAL NAME: Eruca sativa. Eruca is the old Latin name for rocket and sativa means cultivated.
ORIGIN:
Despite renewed culinary interest in rocket, it is not a modern plant. It has been eaten for its tender though acrid leaves for at least 2000 years throughout western and eastern Europe.
DESCRIPTION:
A low annual herb, rocket is also called roquette and arugula. There are approximately 20 different varieties. A few different species of the genus Eruca are grown for salad in places like Crimea and Azerbaijan.