Brassica. CRUCIFER^. 133 



R. SAxfvus, L. 1. c. (Eadisu.) Much like the last iu foliage: petals pale purple: pod 

 usually 2-3-seeded ; segineuts becoming 3-J to 4 liues in breadth, less corrugated and less 

 distinct from the joining necks than in the preceding : beak elongated, thickish but gradu- 

 ally narrowed to a point. — Gray, Man. ed. 5, 75 ; Coulter in Hayden, Eep. 1872, 761 ; Brew. 

 & Wats. Bot. Calif, i. 49. — Occasionally escaping from cultivation iu the East; becoming a 

 prevalent weed iu California. In tlie wild plant the root is rather slender and tough-fibred. 

 (Introd. from Eu.) 



21. BRASSICA, Tourn. (Classical Latin name for cabbage.) — Erect 

 annuals or biennials of Euroj^ean and Asiatic origin, usually somewhat succu- 

 lent ; several species adventive in America or tending to escape from cultivation. 

 Leaves, at least the lower ones, usually lyrate. — Inst. 219, t. 106; L. Gen. 

 n. 542 ; DC. Syst. ii. 582 ; Reichenb. Ic. Fl. Germ. ii. t. 91-98 ; Benth. & Hook, 

 Gen. i. 84; Prantl in Engl. & PrautI, Nat. Pflanzenf. iii. Ab. 2, 177. Sinajns, 

 L. Gen. no. 543. Eapa, Tourn. Inst. 228, t. 113; Adans. Earn. ii. 417. 

 Sinapistrum, Sjjach, Hist. Veg. vi. 343. — Economically the most important 

 genus of the order. B. oleracea, with its numerous artificial varieties, furnishes 

 cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, broccoli, &c. B. campestris 

 has yielded in cultivation the turnip and rutabaga, as well as the colza and rape 

 raised for the oil in the seeds. B. nigra and B. alba furnish the mustard of 

 commerce. In their wild state these species form rapid growing coarse and 

 unsightly weeds of roadsides and waste ground. [By B. L. Robinson.] 



B. CAMPESTRIS, L. (Turnip, Rutabaga.) Stout, smooth or nearly so, often very glaucous, 

 succulent : lower leaves sparingly toothed or pinuatifid ; the upper entire or subentire, 

 oblong-lanceolate, sessile by a clasping cordate-auriculate base, usually obtuse at the apex : 

 flowers pale yellow : sepals scarcely spreading : petals about 3 lines long : pedicels spread- 

 ing : pods terete, 1 1 to 2| inches long, gradually narrowed into a subulate beak tipped with 

 a flattish stigma ; seeds dark brown. — Spec. ii. 666 ; "Wats. Bot. King Exp. 28 ; Wats. & 

 Coulter in Gray, Mau. ed. 6, 73. — Generally cultivated in its various forms and constantly 

 tending to escape, sometimes becoming a noxious weed in grain fields ; fl. earlier than the 

 other species. (Introd. from Eu., Asia.) 



B. NfGRA, Koch (Black Mustard.) Tall, 2 to 5 feet in height: stem finely striate, nearly 

 or quite glabrous : leaves large, coarse, petiolate, commonly beset at least upon the veins 

 beneath with scattered spreading bristles, lyrately pinuatifid or divided; the terminal seg- 

 ment much the largest, ovate or suborbicular, shallowly lobed and sharply dentate ; the 

 uppermost leaves simpler in outline, often reduced to linear bracts but always with slender 

 petioles : racemes long and dense : calyx spreading a little in anthesis : petals spatulate, 

 about 3| lines in length : siliques half inch long, glabrous, torulose, indistinctly quadrangu- 

 lar, short-pedicelled and appressed at maturity, tipped with slender beaks (half line long) ; 

 valves nerveless ; seeds nearly black, highly pungent. — Koch in Roehl. Deutschl. Fl. ed. 3, 

 iv. 713; Wats. 1. c. 28; Wats. & Coulter, 1. c. 72. Sinapis nigra, L. Spec. ii. 668; Torr. 

 & Gray, Fl. 1. 99 ; Reichenb. Ic. Fl. Germ. ii. t. 88. — Extensively cultivated, also well 

 established and widely distributed as a coarse wayside weed, extending across the continent, 

 preferring rich soil ; fl. from June to late autumn. (Nat. from Eu., Asia.) 



B. SiNApfsTRUM, Boiss. (Charlock.) An erect annual, hispid with scattered hairs : lower 

 leaves toothed or pinuatifid with a large ovate-oblong or deltoid shallowly lobed and dentate 

 terminal segment aud usually a pair or two of much smaller segments below : upper leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, sessile or subsessile by a narrow base, not clasping : flowers relatively 

 large : se])als spreading : petals nearly 6 lines long : pods ascending, erect or .sometimes 

 appressed; the fertile portion 9 to 1.5 lines long, torose ; valves nerved; beak slender, 

 flattish, nearly half as long, tipped with a globular stigma; valves at maturity rather 

 prominently 3-5-nerved. — Voy. Espagne, ii. 39 ; Wats. & Coulter, 1. c. Sinapis arvensis, 

 L. Spec. ii. 668; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 99; Eng. Bot. t. 1748. — A common and trouble- 



