YELLOW 



WINTER-CRESS, YELLOW ROCKET. HERB OF ST. BARBARA. 



Bar bar ea vulgaris. Mustard Family (p. 17). 



Stem. Smooth. Leaves. The lower lyre-shaped ; the upper ovate, 

 toothed or deeply incised at their base. Flowers. Yellow, growing in ra- 

 cemes. Pod. Linear, erect or slightly spreading. 



As early as May we find the bright flowers of the winter- 

 cress along the roadside. This is probably the first of the yellow 

 mustards to appear. 



BLACK MUSTARD. 



Brassica nigra. Mustard Family (p. 17). 



Often several feet high. Stem. Branching. Leaves. The lower with 

 a large terminal lobe and a few small lateral ones. Flovvers. Yellow, 

 rather small, growing in a raceme. Pods. Smooth, erect, appressed, about 

 half an inch long. 



Many are familiar with the appearance of this plant who are 

 ignorant of its name. The pale yellow flowers spring from the 

 waste places along the roadside and border the dry fields through- 

 out the summer. The tall spreading branches recall the biblical 

 description: " It groweth up, and becometh greater than all 

 herbs, and shooteth out great branches ; so that the fowls of the 

 air may lodge under the shadow of it." 



This plant is extensively cultivated in Europe, its ground 

 seeds forming the well-known condiment. The ancients used it 

 for medicinal purposes. It has come across the water to us, and 

 is a troublesome weed in many parts of the country. 



WILD RADISH. 



Raphanus Raphanistrum. Mustard Family (p. 17). 



One to three feet high. Leaves. Rough, lyre-shaped. Flowers. Yel- 

 low, veiny, turning white or purplish ; larger than those of the black mus- 

 tard, otherwise resembling them. Pod. Often necklace-form by constric- 

 tion between the seeds. 



This plant is a troublesome weed in many of our fields. It is 

 the stock from which the garden radish has been raised. 



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