CRUCIFER®. gel 
as the last bead of the pod; beads 4 to 8 in number; pods rather 
indistinctly beaded and faintly ribbed when ripe. 
Very common in cornfields and cultivated ground throughout 
the whole kingdom. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual. Summer, Autumn. 
Root annual, scarcely thickened. Stem branched, with the 
branches erect or spreading. Lower leaves lyrate, with a large, 
rounded, often 3-lobed terminal segment, and 6 or 7 lateral ones, 
decreasing in size towards the base, sometimes opposite and some- 
times alternate, all coarsely serrated ; uppermost leaves lanceolate, 
simply serrate. Flowers about # inch across, pale yellow or white, 
with lilac veins. Pods cylindrical, slightly constricted between 
each seed. Mature pods 14 to 23 inches long, breaking away from 
the first barren segment, which is about -/5 inch long, and little 
thicker than the pedicel; beak sword-shaped, nearly # inch long. 
Plant yellow-green, hispid, with short, reflexed, bristly hairs. 
Many authors describe the fruit of this plant as if it always 
broke transversely into 1-seeded segments. This I have not found 
to be the case. The pods fall off whole, leaving the barren, stalk- 
like first joint attached to the pedicel. The white-flowered state 
is common near London, but I have never seen it in any part of 
Scotland. 
Wild Charlock, Wild Radish, Jointed Charlock, White Charlock. 
French, Radis Sauvage. German, Der Acker Rettig. 
The repetition of a generic name with the addition of “istrum” or “astrum” applied 
to a species, indicates that it is a useless or contemptible member of that genus, or bears a 
false resemblance to the species which comprise it. The seeds of the Wild Radish are 
somewhat pungent, and contain a quantity of oil; in some places they are used asa 
substitute for mustard. In Sweden, where the plant abounds in the cornfields, the 
seeds often get mingled with the corn. There is a notion, encouraged by Linnzus, that 
the use of bread made from flour in which this admixture has taken place is injurious, 
and that it induces peculiar convulsive fits and spasms; M. Villars, however, controverts 
this notion by observing that in Dauphiny, where in cold, damp seasons the weed 
abounds, and is constantly mixed with the corn, no such disease is known, neither can 
such an effect be traced in England, where we have the Wild Radish very commonly in 
our fields. There can be little doubt that the attacks of disease mentioned by Linnzeus 
are traceable to some fungoid growth in the grain during wet and unhealthy seasons. 
Botanists and agriculturists who have examined the matter have no hesitation in pro- 
nouncing this little plant to be as harmless as any other of its family, an excellent food for 
domestic quadrupeds, and a favourite with bees. The common garden Radish (R. sativus) 
is a Chinese plant, or at least grows wild in that country; it was, however, grown by 
the Egyptians and Greeks in very early times, and there is some difficulty in determining 
its precise origin. Mr. Bentham thinks it may possibly be only a variety of our Wild 
Radish. It grows very easily and commonly in our gardens, and is one of the commonest 
forms of uncooked vegetable food on our tables in the early spring. The Roman phy- 
sicians recommended that Radishes should be eaten raw with bread and salt in the 
R 
