BRASSICACEtE OR CRUCIFERiE. 



191. C. pratensis Linn. sp. pi. 915. Eng. Bot. t. 776. Woodv. 

 t. 30. Smith Eng. Fl. iii. 189. DC. syst. ii. 256. — Common 

 in meadows, on damp commons, and by the side of water. 



Root tuberous, somewhat toothed. Herbage bright shining green, 

 hairless or nearly so. Stem about a foot high. Radical leaves pin- 

 nated, on long stalks ; leaflets in one or more pairs, rounded, wavy, 

 cordate, angular or toothed, the terminal one much the largest ; leaves 

 of the stem with much narrower and more numerous subdivisions 

 which are usually linear and entire. Flowers pale lilac or almost white, 

 rather large, corymbose. Petals toothed on their unguis. — Said to 

 be stimulant, diaphoretic and diuretic. The dried flowers have been a 

 popular remedy for epilepsy in children. 



SINAP1S. 



Calyx equal at base, spreading. Petals obovate. Stamens 

 distinct, entire. Silique tapering, 2-celled, 2-valved ; cells 

 many-seeded ; valves concave, or keeled with a central nerve ; 

 style either short and acute, or rostrate subulate conical or 

 ensiform, seedless or 1-seeded. Seeds 1-rowed, globose. (0> >) 



192. S. nigra Linn. sp. pi 933. Eng. Bot. t. 969. Woodv. 

 iii. t. 151. DC. prodr. i. 21. Smith Eng. Fl. iii. 222. — 

 NaT™ Hippocrat. — Fields and banks all over Europe. (Common 

 Mustard.) 



An annual about 2 feet high, rough with hispid hairs. Lower leaves 

 large, lyrate, rough, lobed, toothed ; the upper narrower, stalked and 

 smooth. Calyx yellowish, spreading. Petals yellow, obovate. Pods 

 small, bluntly quadrangular, nearly even and smooth, pressed close to 

 the peduncle ; tipped by a small short style, but wholly destitute of the 

 long sword-like beak of other species. Seeds blackish brown, veined, 

 round. — Seeds acrid, stimulating, and bitter. The oil is purgative, 

 and has been proposed as a rubefacient in paralysis, and as a vesicant. 

 The distilled water has been used against the itch. The flour forms 

 an useful local irritant in the form of a poultice. 



193. S. chinensis Linn. mant. 95. DC. prodr. i. 219. — 

 China. 



Stem erect, furrowed. Lower leaves stalked, smooth, or hispid on 

 the ribs underneath, slashed, pinnatifid ; the lower lobes deeper, shorter, 

 obtuse ; the upper more deeply pinnatifid, less stalked, with acuminate 

 entire, or somewhat toothed lobes. Racemes erect. Pedicels filiform, 

 6 lines long, erect. Young siliques smooth, pointed with the style. — 

 Seeds considered by Mahometan and Hindoo practitioners stimulant, 

 stomachic and laxative. 



194. S. alba Linn. sp. pi. 933. Fl. lond. t. 46. Eng. bot. 

 t. 1677. DC. prodr. i. 220. S. and C. I t. 42. — Hedges and 

 fields in most parts of Europe. (White Mustard.) 



Stem smooth or but little hairy. Leaves almost always smooth, 

 lyrate, pinnatifid ; the lower lobes oblong and deeper, the terminal 

 larger, all either acute or obtusely sinuate-toothed, or acutely toothed. 

 Flowers yellow. Silique with a horn which is compressed, ensiform, 



92 



