CHARLOCK 103 



Aliro.ul it is cultivated tor the s.ike of tlir oil in the seeds, which are 

 used lor ditVcreiit donirsiic purposes. It is valued as a bird seed and 

 for feeding" pouUr\'. It is usi'd in oil lor soa|)-nicd-:ini4, and in oilcd^e. 

 for which it is cuhixaied in some places. 



EsSKNTlAl. -Splxll If C'llAls AiTKKS: — 



33. Caiiu/iiia sti/kui, Cranl/. Stem tall, erect, radical leaves stalked, 

 entire, those on the stem auricled, tlowers yellow, minute, pods inllated, 

 oho\ate, vaKi's keeletl. 



Charlock (Ilrassica arvtnsis, (). Kunlze) 



W'idelv dis[)ersed as it is, no seeds of Charlock have \'et heen iountl 

 in Pre- or Post-glacial beds. It is found in the Warm Temperate Zone, 

 in Europe, X. Africa, X. and \V. Asia, as far as the Himalayas, and 

 has been introduced into .America. 



The Common Charlock, unfortunately f)r the farmer, is found in 

 evcrv county in Great Britain, ami in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 

 It is found at elevations of over 1000 ft. 



Charlock is above all a constant denizen of cultivated ground, being 

 evident when in llower in every cornfield, in some cases in such quan- 

 tity as to give a sulphur-yellow colour to the field. P)Ut it olien strays 

 beyond arable land, and is tound b}- the wayside with pop|)ies on the 

 bare ground where stone heaps have sometime stood, or along the 

 margin of the macadam, where seeds accumulate in the gutter, amongst 

 nimierous similar stations. Antl then it is to be found in e\'ery stack- 

 yard and on manure hea[)s, or where the\' have once bec'U matle. 



Being short, roughly hairy, and branched often into two parts about 

 halfway up the stem. Charlock is a compact shrubby plant, with stalked 

 lower leaves, somewhat divided, with the lobes larger upwards, rough, 

 and the upper stalkless, entire, finely toothed, with the lower part of 

 the stem tinged a milky purple colour. It grows profusely in a scat- 

 tered manner wherever it is found. An alternative Latin name, Sii/apis, 

 was gi\"en to indicate its tmaiip-like aspect. 



The flowers are bright yellow, and the plant is well distinguished by 

 its smooth, jointed, many-angled pods, which are longer by three times 

 than the single-seeded beak, which is flattened at the sides and conical. 

 The pods are nearly cylindrical. The seeds are black and n\inierous. 



The plant sometimes grows to a height of 18 in. It is in (lower 

 from May till August. It is annual, and increased enormously by seed. 



The stigma is mature first, when the flower is in bud, opening in the 

 earlv morning. .At the inner side at the base of the short stamens two 



