Brassica. CRUCIFEIkE. 39 



the alternate ones strongly gibbous at base. Petals long-clawed, with a flat blade. 

 Anthers sagittate at base, not coiled. Stigma 2-lobed, dilated. Biennials or per- 

 ennials ; with narrow entire or repandly toothed leaves, not clasping ; the flowers 

 often large, yellow or orange, or occasionally purple. 



A rather large genus of the northern hemisphere, most numerously represented in the Old 

 World. But two or three species are found in America. 



1 . E. asperum, DC. Biennial, canescent with short appressed hairs : stems 

 solitary and simple, rarely branched above, 1 to 3 feet high, or less : leaves oblan- 

 ceolate or narrowly spatulate ; the cauline linear to linear-lanceolate, entire or spar- 

 ingly repand with short acute teeth, 1 to 3 inches long : sepals narrow, 4 to 6 lines 

 long, strongly gibbous : petals 8 to 12 lines long, light yellow to deep orange or 

 purple : pods 1 to 4 inches long, a line wide, beaked with a stout style, ascending 

 on stout spreading pedicels 3 lines long. Hook. Fl. i. 64, t. 22. 



Var. (]) pumilum, Watson. A low form, the stem branching from the base ; 

 blossoming in early spring. Bot. King Exp. 24. 



Var. (1) inconspicuum, AVatson, 1. c. Tall and slender, the flowers smaller, 

 light yellow, the petals narrow and claw scarcely exserted. 



A variable species, widely diffused, ranging from Mexico to British America, and from the 

 Pacific to Texas and Ohio, and in elevation from the low hot valleys of the interior to above the 

 forest line in the Sierra Nevada. Alpine specimens are much dwarfed. The flowers are very 

 showy and usually fragrant. The low variety referred to, from sandy hillsides in the Washoe 

 Mountains near Carson City, Nevada ( IVatsori), much resembles the Colorado E. pumilum 

 of Nuttall, which is, however, a decided perennial, with simple stems from a branching rootstock, 

 though in the original description it is said to be an annual. The var. inconspicuum ranges 

 from Northern Nevada to the Saskatchewan and is likely to be found in N. California. 



13. BRASSICA, Linn. MUSTARD, &c. 



Pod linear, nearly terete or somewhat 4-sided, pointed with a long conical beak, 

 not stipitate ; valves 1 - 3-nerved. Seeds in one row, globose, not margined ; coty- 

 ledons infolding the radicle. Lateral sepals usually gibbous at base. Petals yellow. 

 Anthers long, sagittate at base. Coarse erect herbs ; lower leaves mostly pinnate 

 or lyrate with a large terminal lobe. Sinapis, Linn. 



A large genus of nearly 100 species or more, natives of the Eastern Continent, but many widely 

 naturalized as weeds or extensively cultivated. Among the latter, B. oleracca in its several vari- 

 eties gives the Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, Kohlrabi, &c. ; B. campcstris, the Turnip, 

 Rutabaga, Rape, &c. ; while the White and Black Mustards and Charlock belong to distinct 

 species. 



1. B. nigra, Boiss. Glabrous or with some scattered spreading hairs, annual, 

 branching, | to 12 feet high : leaves all petioled. the lower lyrate with the terminal 

 segment very large and deeply lobed ; upper leaves lobed\or entire : petals 3 to 4 

 lines long, twice the length of the yellowish sepals : pods closely appressed, 4-angled, 

 6 to 9 lines long, sharply beaked with the long style : seeds dark brown. 



Black Mustard, a most troublesome weed and difficult to eradicate, covering large areas, par- 

 ticularly in the more fertile valleys of the southern half of the State, sometimes forming a dense 

 growth. The seeds are more pungent than the White Mustard (B. alba, readily distinguished by 

 its hirsute pods), and have been exported in large quantities. 



2. B. campestris, Linn. Annual or sometimes biennial, smooth, 2 to 3 feet 

 high : lower leaves more or less glaucous, pinnately divided Avith a large terminal 

 lobe ; the upper leaves oblong or lanceolate with a broad clasping auriculate base : 

 flowers 3 to 4 lines long : pods nearly terete, 2 inches long or more, 2 lines wide, 

 ascending on spreading pedicels ; the stout beak 8 to 10 lines long. 



Much less troublesome than the last, but rather common in fields near the Bay of San Fran- 

 cisco and occasionally met with elsewhere. The wild state shows little resemblance to the culti- 

 vated forms. 



