Cultivated by the Greeks and Romans from the 4th and 5th centuries BC, mustard is an annual herbaceous plant of the Brassicaceae family with long branching stems of 3.2 to 6.5 ft (1 to 2 m). Close to rapeseed, it grows easily and quickly in temperate climate zones where it resists drought, heat, and frost. Seedlings planted in the ground between late March and mid-May are harvested at the end of July or in August. This rapid growth makes it possible to alternate the cultivation of mustard with that of cereals and avoid the impoverishment of the soil.