TANSY MUSTARD 



Descurainia brachycarpa (Richards) Schulz. 



April 



Roadsides, bottomlands 



No matter how dif!erent their loaves may be, 



tlio ilowers of the Mustard family, Cruci- 



ferae, show their reseml)lanee to each other 



ill tlir cioss-.-liniicd hlossoins and hitter, waterv juict'. It is the shape of 



the simple little Ilowers which pves the entire laiiiily its hotaiiical name 



— Criieiferae, the eross-sha])e(l ones. 



Tan.sy mustard and winter eress {Bnrlmren vuhjaris) are two which 

 have extremes in lc;if patterns ; there is very little similarity between them. 

 Tansy mustard ^nows in dry sdil in full sunliizht from May through most 

 of .hdy. It has very liiiely nit lenves which are arranired alternately upon 

 ih(> downy stem. The plant i,- ierny, ratlier pretty, not as w»'edy in apjiear- 

 ance as so many of the jjrosser mustards are. 'J'ho stem tapers to a loose 

 head of tiny yellow llnwcrs held outward on slim, little stems. As each 

 flower ])asses out ol hloom. the long thin seed pod stamls at an angle on 

 the stalk until the whole liead is a cluster ot .><etHls. 



Winter cress long ago wa*; called the Herb of St. Barbara in Europe 

 where it was u."*ed a.s a very popular spring vegetable. Its stout, rather 

 hollow, juicy stalks and compounfl. glossy, cress-like leaves are to}){)ed 

 with clusters ot hright yellow mustard Ilowers. Winter cress blooms early 

 in low ])laces and along roads where the ditches are moist and frogs are 

 loud on an April evening. Winter cress is a hright hit of .-un-gold in a 

 landscape -till colored with the drahness of winter. 



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