172 



I'LOWERS 01- WASTE PLACES, ETC. 



Essentially a weed of waste places. Shepherd's Purse is a familiar 

 sioht wherever we turn on all ground which is not grass-grown, along 

 our highways, in ilic taniiyard, on waste heaps, in gardens, stableyards, 

 and in the cornfield, or generally where open soil allows it to take a 

 hold: and when it docs so it comc-s up freely, llowering all the year 



Plioln. II. H.uUcy 



Shepherds Pirse (Capsella Biirsii-f}asti>rh, Medici 



rouml anil forming abundant seed. To the tarmcr it is a pest, to the 

 botanist an instance of mutations of great interest. 



The Shepherd's Purse has the rosette habit, the leaves lying flat on 

 the ground, in a circle around the base of the stem, which is more or 

 less leafless above. The root is long, tapering. The plant is ex- 

 tremely variable in the form of the leaves as well as in the shape and 

 size of the pods. The stems are branched. The radical leaves are 



