Tumblemustard, also known as hedge mustard, Jim Hill mustard, tall 

 mustard, tall sisymbrium, and tumbling mustard, is a rank, .ungainly biennial 

 with tumbleweed proclivities. The specific name altissima means very tall. 

 The common name most generally used in the northern part of the United 

 States is Jim Hill mustard, referring to James J. Hill, the late capitalist and 

 railroad builder, whose Great Northern Railroad, transporting the seed of 

 tunrblemustard, incidental to the movement of hay, grain, and livestock, greatfy 

 assisted in the distribution of this weed pest. Originally from southern Europe, 

 tumblemustard is now distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and much of tem- 

 perate North America. A specimen in the National Herbarium collected at 

 Philadelphia in 1878 is the earliest authentic record of this species in North 

 America. It was supposedly seen in 1883 near Kansas City, Mo., and was well 

 established in 185)2 near Aberdeen, S. Dak. It was observed near Minneapolis in 

 1894 and was collected the following year at seven different points within a 

 10-mile radius of that city. The first record of its introduction into Canada 

 was reported in 1885 in Alberta, when specimens were collected on the right-of- 

 way of the Canadian Pacific Railway at the eastern base of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. 1 The species is now more or less well established in practically all 

 cultivated portions of North America north of Mexico. 



Tumblemustard is a serious weed pest in grain and hay fields as well as 

 in pastures in many localities. It also occurs along railroad right-of-ways and 

 highways, in waste ground, and, to a greater or less extent, on the range in 

 most of the western States. It is especially common in eastern Montana and 

 parts of eastern Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and the Northwest, generally occurring 

 at elevations below the ponderosa-pine belt. Russian-thistle (Salsola pestifer) 

 is one of the characteristic associates of tumblemustard in the West. 



Tumblemustard, in the main, has a low palatability, although it is grazed 

 by cattle and sheep when the growth is young and tender and during that 

 growth stage probably is of fair palatability, preferred to Russian-thistle. 



The only commendable quality of this plant is its ability to i-evegetate de- 

 nuded areas quickly and thus provide a measure of soil protection. The plants 

 often produce an enormous amount of seed ; it has been estimated that a single 

 large plant will bear 1,500,000 seeds. 2 The seeds, as is true of many of the 

 tumbleweeds, are not easily shed from the tough pods; consequently, one of 

 these plants may be blown about for a whole winter, dropping a few seeds at 

 intervals for many miles. When abundant, the species is a serious nuisance 

 in grain fields, since, in addition to reducing the amount of grain produced, the 

 tumblemustard seed when present in quantity gives such an objectionable flavor 

 to ground grain that livestock, other than sheep, refuse to eat it. A number 

 of experiments have been made looking toward the control of this weed in 

 agricultural lands. 2 3 * If conservative grazing is practiced on the range, tumble- 

 mustard may eventually be supplanted by native perennial species. 



Tumblemustard is easily recognized by its erect, much-branched steins ; 

 large, deeply divided lower leaves with the upper leaves much reduced ; and 

 by the rather small, yellowish white flowers with four separate petals, four 

 narrow spreading sepals, and six stamens, two of which are shorter than the 

 others. The stiff, narrow, many-seeded fruits, or pods are from 2 to 4 inches 

 long. The flowers, which are produced in abundance, are borne in numerous 

 racemes ; they mature quickly and only a comparatively small number are in 

 bloom simultaneously. The plants bloom over a long period, and the large, 

 lower leaves commonly dry up and fall without, apparently, retarding flower 

 and seed production. 



Norta, a member of the mustard family (Cruciferae), is a small, Old World 

 genus of about 10 species of biennials. In addition to tumblemustard, one 

 other species, N. trio, has been naturalized in the United States. 



1 Dewey, L. H. TUMBLING MUSTARD (SISYMBRIUM ALTISSIMCM). U. S. Dept. Agr., 

 Div. Bot. Circ. 7, 8 pp., illus. 1896. 



2 Clark, G. H., and Fletcher, J. FARM WEEDS or CANADA. Ed. 2, rev. and enl. by G. H. 

 Clark. 192 pp., illus. Ottawa. 1923. 



3 Runnels, H. A., and Schaffner, J. II. MANUAL OF OHIO WEEDS. Ohio Agr. Expt. Sta. 

 Bull. 475, 160 pp., illus. 1931. 



* Thornton, B. J., and Durrell, L. W. COLORADO WEEDS. Colo. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 

 403, 115 pp., illus. 1933. 



