SHEPHERDS PURSE 



Capsella bursa-pastocis ( L. ) Medic. 



April In tlio (loorviirds of Athens, in tho villa^-os of France, 



Lawns, gardens in the fields alontr the Rhine, in the meadows of Eng- 

 land, ill the cahljaLi-e lields of HoUand, the shej)henrs 

 purse for centuries has cuinc u|) each ycai- and hlossonied and fruited. In 

 Greece, in France, in (iernianv, in Kuiiland. in Holland, in nio.st Kuro- 

 ])ean countries, tlie youn<r liasid leaves ot she))h(M-d's jjurse have heen 

 gathcivd and cookcMl as yreens. l-'olk for ccntiiries have eaten it witii 

 relish. 



From its European oriijin, shepiierd's purse has traveled all over the 

 world until it is nearly cosmojiolitan. It was taken in shipments of goods 

 and foodstulfs to f;ir eornei-s of th.e world, seeded itself, went along 

 wherever men went, until today it is an imi)ortant item in i-onjunction 

 with man and his hahitations, his fields, ])astures. and roadsides. When 

 spring conu^s. the tiny white llowers at the tip of the tinn stem are ont> 

 of the earliest hlossoms to come into hloom. To many a city child, the 

 flowers of shejjherd's purse and dandelions, pic-ked from some meager 

 lawn or vacant lot. constitute his entire knowledge of the flowering spring. 



In tliemselves, the tiny white llowers are lU'at little things, white, 

 with four small petals, each flower arranged in dignity upon a thin little 

 stem at angles from the rest of the stem. The stalk hegins to hloom from 

 the i>ottom to the top, and all along the way stand out the seeds when 

 the llowers are gone. Tlu^ poils are thin, green, sharply heart-shaped, 

 pepi)ery like the fruit of peppergrass. 



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