a 
N. ORD.—_-CRUCIFERR. 24 
Tribe.—BRASSICEA. 
GENUS.—SINAPIS ;, TOURN. 
SEX. SYST.—TETRADYNAMIA SILIQUOSA. 
SINAPIS NIGRA. 
BLACK MUSTARD. 
SYN.—SINAPIS NIGRA, LINN.; BRASSICA NIGRA, BOISS.; BRASSICA 
SINAPIOIDES, ROTH, : 
COM. NAMES.—BLACK MUSTARD, BROWN OR RED MUSTARD; (FR.) 
MOUTARDE NOIRE; (GER.) SCHWARZ SENF. 
A TINCTURE OF THE RIPE SEEDS OF SINAPIS NIGRA, LINN. 
Description.—This useful plant has become a troublesome weed in many 
parts of North America, growing from 3 to 6 feet high. The root is fusiform, 
thin and branching. The s¢em generally erect, smooth and numerously branched ; 
the lower /eaves are either lyrate or lobed, the terminal lobe large, rough, and 
harsh to the touch, with two or more small lateral divisions or lobes at its base, 
the stem leaves are entire, lanceolate and smooth. The izflorescence is a dense 
head at first, extending as the fruits form into an elongated raceme, which con- 
tinues flowering at its top until frost checks the growth. The pods are smooth, 
about one-quarter inch long, upon appressed pedicels, and closely set to the 
elongated axis of the inflorescence, they are 4-angled, erect, and surmounted by 
the 4-angled, stout, persistent style. Va/ves 2, each 1-nerved. Seeds 4 to 6 in each 
cell, they are spherical, or somewhat oval, of a dark reddish-brown color, 25 of 
them in line would about equal an inch, and 50 would generally weigh 1 grain. 
The pitted reticulation of the outer coat is coarser, while the seeds themselves 
are smaller and more pungent than S. alba. 
A description of the order and genus is incorporated in the description of 
Sinapis alba, 23. 
History and Habitat.—Black Mustard is found wild over the whole extent 
of Europe, excepting its most northern latitudes, as well as the central part of 
Asia and in Northern Africa. It is quite extensively cultivated in Italy, Germany, 
and England, and fully naturalized in both North and South America, flowering 
in temperate regions from June to September. It was well known to the ancients 
as a medicinal agent, but not as a condiment until somewhat more modern times, 
The seeds, when ground, form a greenish-yellow powder, inodorous when dry, 
* Livam, sinafi, turnip. Brassica or Sinapis campestris. 
