90 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA 



WILD RADISH (Raphanus Raphanistrum L.) 



Other English names: Jointed Charlock, Jointed Radish, 

 Wild Turnip, often wrongly called Wild Mustard, Cadluck or 

 Kale in Nova Scotia. 



Introduced from Europe. Annual and winter annual, 1 

 to 2 feet high, with a few long branches starting low down. 

 The root is slender, not swollen as in the garden radish. Leaves 

 pale yellowish-green, deeply lobed, and, like the stem, bearing 

 a few stiff bristles. The flowers are fewer and larger than in 

 Wild Mustard, noticeably paler yellow, conspicuously veined. 

 The constricted seed pods (Plate 73, fig. 36) are the most distinc- 

 tive characteristic; with these, no mistake can be made in 

 identifying the two plants. In Wild Radish the seed-pods 

 have no valves but are composed of two joints, the lower one 

 small, 1/10 of an inch, and seedless, which remains attached 

 to the footstalk; the upper cylindrical, 1^ inches long, with 

 several one-seeded Cells formed by transverse partitions. This 

 seed-bearing portion separates from the first joint, leaving it 

 attached to the footstalk; in threshing, it is often broken up 

 into single-seeded sections. 



The seed itself (Plate 73, fig. 36) varies much in size and 

 shape, being about 1/8 of an inch long, oval, irregular, slightly 

 flattened, reddish brown, the surface very finely netted. 



Time of flowering : June to September; seeds ripe by 

 August. 



Propagation: By seeds. 



Occurrence : Abundant in the Maritime Provinces and 

 recently introduced with English seed oats into Ontario. 



Injury: A coarse, vigorous weed, not less objectionable 

 than Wild Mustard though not so difficult to suppress. Grain 

 crops polluted with this weed are troublesome to harvest; the 



