348 The Flora of Wiltshire. 



of cabbage, or rather pottage made of it. Dr. Withering says it is 

 probably derived from brasso, (Grr.) to boil, it being commonly so 

 prepared as an esculent vegetable. 



1. B. campestris (Linn.) Field Cabbage, or Wild Navew. Engl. 

 Bot. t. 2254. Reich. Icones, 4434. 



Locality. Cornfields, and about the banks of ditches. A. or D. 

 Fl. June, July. Area, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 



In all the Districts throughout the county. Root fusiform, slender 

 and annual in tho wild plant ; often turnip shaped and biennial in 

 the cultivated one. Apparently the origin of the Swedish Turnip of 

 our agriculturists, and in Scotland it has never been found except 

 where the Swedish Turnip had been previously cultivated. 



2. B. Rapa, (Linn.) Rape root or wild Turnip. Rape is the old 

 Latin name of the plant. Engl. Bot. t. 2176. Reich. Icones, ii. 96. 



Locality. Cultivated fields and their borders, and in waste places, 

 more or less completely naturalized. B. Fl. A.pril, May. Area, 1. 

 2. 3. 4. 5. 



In all the Districts. Varying exceedingly in height according 

 to soil. 



3. B. napus, (Linn.) Rape or Cole seed. A word used by Pliny 

 and others. Engl. Bot. t. 2146. Reich. Icones, ii. 93. 



Locality. Borders of fields. A. or B. Fl. May, June. Area, 

 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 



In all the Districts. The slender rooted variety is cultivated for 

 the oil produced by its seed, which after pressure, are formed into 

 cakes, and used as manure for feeding cattle. Following the ma- 

 jority of my correspondents, in here keeping the above three species 

 as distinct, I am far from being convinced in my own mind of their 

 claims to be considered such, feeling myself utterly at a loss to find 

 characters by which they may be distinguished. Mr. Babington in 

 his excellent " Manual," unites Rapa and Campestris, and while 

 keeping Napus apart as a species, he observes of it, that "it is dif- 

 ficult to find any character by which to distinguish this plant from 

 the preceding." Hooker, Arnott, and Bentham state there are 

 strong grounds for considering all to be varieties, as they scarcely 

 differ in other respects. 



