/hnssicn. CRUCIFKR;!': 



39 



tlio iilteriiate ones strongly gibbons at base. Petals lung clawed, with a Hat blade. 

 Anthers sagittate at base, not coiled. Stigma 2-lobed, dilatr'd. — Biennials or per- 

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

 often large, yellow or orange, or occasionally purple. 



A mllior largo fjoinis of tin- iinrthnrn lipriiisiilirre, most nninoroiisly rojinscnto-l in tlio Old 

 World. Mnt two or \h\oc sjMM'ica arc found in Ainerifa. 



1. E. asperum, !)(/. liicnnial, cancscent with short apjtres.scd hairs: stems 

 solitary nnd siiupli', mrely l)ran<'lied above, 1 to '.] feet high, or less : lcavf^s oblan- 

 ceolate or narrowly spatidate ; 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. — IJot. King Kxp. 24. 



Var. (?) inconspicuum, Watson, 1. c. 'lall nnd slender, the flowers smaller, 

 lighti yellow, the petals narrow nnd claw scarcely o.xsertod. 



A variable .species, widely difTiiscd, ranging from Mexico to British Anioricn, and from tho 

 Pacific to Texas and Oliio, — and in elevation from the low hot valleys of tlic 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 C'ar.son ('ity, Nevada (IVnLion), much resembles the Colorado E. pumilum 

 of Nuttall, which is, however, a decided {lerennial, with simple stems from a branching rootatock, 

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

 from Northern Nevada to the .Saskatchewan and is likely to 1h> found in N. California. 



13. BRASSICA, Linn. MrsTAun, kc. 

 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 largo penus of nearly 100 s]>ecies or more, notivesof the Ka.stern Continent, but many widely 

 naturalized as weeds or extensively cultivated. Among the latter, li. olrrncrn in its sovernl vari- 

 eties gives tho Cabbage, liroccfdi, Cauliflower, Kale, Kohlrabi, &c. ; B. rnvi))r.itri.t, tho Turnip, 

 KutJilmga. Hope, &c. ; while tho White and liiac.k Mustards and Cliurlock 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 leavers lobed or entire : petals 3 to 4 

 lines long, twice the length of the yellowish sepals : pods clo.sely appres.sed, 4-angled, 

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



niack Mustard, a most troublesome weed ond ilifficult to eradicate, covering large areas, par- 

 ticularly in the more fertile valleys of the southeni half of the State, sometimes forming a den.se 

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

 its hirsute iK)ds\ and have been exported in large quantities. 



2. B. campestris, Linn. Annual or sometimes ])iennial, smooth, 2 to 3 feet 

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

 lobe ; the upper loaves oblong or lanceolate with a broad clasping aurictdate base : 

 ilijwers 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 trnublesome than the last, but rntlier common in fields near the Bay of San Fran- 

 cisco and occa.sionaliy met with elsewhere. The wild state hIiows little resemblance to the culti- 

 vated forms. 



