86 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA 



FALSE FLAX (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz). 



Other English names: Gold of Pleasure, Balloon Mustard. 



Other Latin names: Myagrum sativum L.; Camelina Macro- 

 carpa Reich. 



Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual, 2 to 

 3 feet high, erect, branched above. Root-leaves lance-shaped 

 and narrowed into a footstalk ; upper leaves arrow-shaped, 

 sharply pointed. The lower leaves and the lower part of the 

 stem downy with star-shaped hairs. The upper part of the 

 stem smooth and covered with a fine bloom. Racemes much 

 elongated in fruit. Flowers numerous, small, 1 / 8 of an inch across, 

 pale greenish yellow. Pods 3/8 of an inch long, balloon or pear- 

 shaped, margined and tipped with a slender beak, on slender foot- 

 stalks, curving upward, each containing about 10 seeds. 



The seed (Plate 73, fig. 32) is variable in size, about 1/12 of 

 an inch long, pale yellowish brown. The miniature root of the 

 germ very prominent, lying along the seed. Seed-coat finely 

 pitted. Scar of attachment a white point in a notch at the 

 base of the seed. When soaked in water the seeds develop a 

 thick coat of mucilage. The seeds have been used as food on 

 account of their mucilage and oil, both of which resemble those 

 of linseed. The plant has been cultivated for these products 

 in Germany and France. 



Time of flowering : June to August; seed ripe July to Septem- 

 ber. 



Propagation : By seeds. 



Occurrence: Throughout Canada in waste places and along 

 railways. A noxious weed in the West and in western Ontario. 



Injury: In western Canada it is in evidence in grain sown 

 on stubble land that has not had clean cultivation before spring 

 seeding. It is a noxious pest in fall wheat and is prevalent in 



