MUSTARD OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 281 



Mustard Tree, the name of a tree thus described in the 

 words of the New Testament : " A grain of mustard seed, the 

 least of all seeds ; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among 

 herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come 

 and lodge in the branches thereof" (St. Matthew xiii. 31, 32, 

 etc.) Bible commentators differ greatly as to what was the 

 plant here spoken of ; for although the translation from tlie 

 Hebrew and Greek has been rendered into the English word 

 ]\Iustard, there is nevertheless no evidence in proof that it is 

 the plant we call INIustard (Brassica alba or nigra), which is 

 above described as an annual weedy plant, seldom exceeding 2 

 feet in height. Nevertheless, judging from the account of travel- 

 lers, there is every reason to believe that it was the common 

 mustard plant, which in Palestine attains, it is said, the height 

 of a horse and his rider, and even the height of 10 or 15 feet, 

 thus verifying the words " greatest of herbs." Although only 

 an annual, like most other Cruciferous plants, in autumn its 

 branches become hard and rigid, and of sufficient strength to 

 bear small birds which feed upon its seeds, and with spreading, 

 rigid, naked branches, may well be called a tree. The late Dr. 

 Eoyle, however, endeavoured to show that the mustard tree of 

 Scripture was a very different plant from the above, and consi- 

 dered that it was more probably attributable to Salvador a jJersica, 

 a thick-stemmed, soft- wooded tree belonging to the natural order 

 Salvadoracese, with simple stems growing to a height of about 

 20 feet. Its fruits are berries like currants, and pungent like 

 mustard. It is a native of Persia, extending to the hot valleys 

 at the southern end of the Dead Sea. There is, however, much 

 to be said against this view, one point being that as the Salva- 

 dora growing there would not be known to the people of Galilee, 

 it is not likely to have been the mustard tree of the parable. 



Mustard Weld or Charlock {Brassica Sinapistrum, better 

 known as Sinapis arvensis), a weedy annual, enlivening corn- 

 fields with its bright yellow flowers. Its presence, however, is 

 a sign of unskilful cultivation. The seeds are used for feeding 

 caged birds. 



