The crucifer Orychophragmus violaceus （L.） O. E. Schulz （syn. Moricandia sonchifoli （Bunge） Hook. f.） is an ornamental plant native to China and serves as the germplasm resource in the genetic improvement of the Brassica L. crops. In this paper， the research progress and status of its cytogenetics， cytological behavior of its intergeneric hybrids with the Brassica L. crops， the chromosomal localization of some traits， and the discovery of the dihydroxylated fatty acids are summarized. O. violaceus （L.） O. E. Schulz （2n=24） has the large genome size of about 1.3 Gb and the long chromosomes with the homogenous staining. The meiotic pairing patterns of O. violaceus （L.） O. E. Schulz and its haploid reveal the polyploidy nature of its genome. The latest results from the genome sequencing revealed that the ancestral diploid of this species should likely have the tPCK karyotype with x=7， and experienced one specific tetraploidization event occurring at 600-800 million years ago， which gave rise to the extant genome of n=12 by chromosomal rearrangements and the inactivation of centromeres. With O. violaceus （L.） O. E. Schulz as the male parent， the intergeneric hybrids with six cultivated Brassica L. species give the cytogenetical behaviors specific to each Brassica L. parent， which are likely associated with the genome structures and inherent cytological patterns of two parents. The chromosomes from O. violaceus （L.） O. E. Schulz are clarified easily from those of Brassica L. species in these hybrids， as they are of larger size and more deeply stained. The traits of the serrated leaves， the basal clustering stems， purple petals and dihydroxylated fatty acids are localized on different chromosomes via the development of the Brassica napus L.- O. violaceus （L.） O. E. Schulz additional lines. The dihydroxy fatty acids with high content are discovered in its seed oil and present the better lubricant effect than the castor oil. O. violaceus （L.） O. E. Schulz has also potential medicinal value. Finally， the future research area and utilization for Orychophragmus Bunge species are discussed.