MUSTARD FAMILY 85 



capsules of these two species are armored with many 

 spines, which spread in a more and more threatening 

 way as the seeds ripen, and the entire plants, on leaves 

 and stems, bear many needle-like spines. 



Argemone alba. Flowers white, 3-4 in. across. Sepals 

 2-3, petals 4-6, stamens many. Plants prickle-armed, 1-3 ft. 

 tall, branched. Leaves 2-10 in. long, sharply lobed, gray- 

 green. Dry soil. Blooming in spring and summer. Fla. to 

 Texas and Mo. 



Argemone mexicana. Mexican poppy. Devil's fig. Flow- 

 ers yellow, 1-3 in. across. Plants prickle-armed, 1-3 ft. tall. 

 Leaves blotched with lighter color. Waste places. Bloom- 

 ing from late winter to fall. Fla. to N. J. and Texas. 



Argemone leiocarpa. Flowers yellow, 2-3 in. across. Stems 

 and capsules smooth, leaves armed. Southern Fla. 



MUSTARD FAMILY (Crudferae (Brassicaceae) ) 



Herbaceous. Leaves alternate. Flowers small. Petals 4. Sta- 

 mens 6, two of them shorter than the others. Fruit usually 

 a capsule. 



A differently credulous age than ours attributed to 

 mustard, or senvey as it was called, the most various 

 healing properties. Herbalists declared, with apparently 

 random enthusiasm, "it healeth smiting of Serpents and 

 overcometh venom of the Scorpions and abateth Tooth- 

 ache and clenseth the Hair and letteth the falling 

 thereof," and, "if it be drunk fasting it makes the in- 

 tellect good.'' 



In Florida the mustard family is chiefly represented 

 by successful cosmopolitan species, which from too great 

 zeal in multiplying have become troublesome weeds. 

 Where cultivated land has been neglected the common 

 wild mustards {Brassica) are sometimes so abundant that 



