440 PLANTS AND MAN 



flowers each with four broad petals. The best known of our 

 native poppies is the orange-yellow California poppy which with 

 five related species populates grassy hillsides and arid slopes from 

 California to Arizona and Utah. The two sepals of the flower 



Fig. 264. — The western prickly poppy has large papery petals. 



form a pointed cap which is soon pushed off* by the four large 

 petals. 



The Mustard Family 



Most of the species of the Mustard Family (Crucijerae) are 

 characterized by inconspicuous and relatively unattractive 

 flowers; a great number of them have become common weeds in 

 various parts of the United States (fig. 265). Pepperwort is a 

 common roadside weed with entire or compound leaves and 

 terminal clusters of small flowers which may be white, red or 

 yellow; the flower, like that of other members of the family, 

 consists of four petals arranged in the form of a cross. Bladderpod 

 is a low growing plant with basal leaves and yellow flowers; in 

 the midwestern states it thrives on dry plains, and in the far 

 West is found on mountainsides and in the deserts. Shepherd's 

 purse is better known for its peculiar pods than for its small 

 flowers; the latter are white and are borne in clusters. This is 



