178 



BRASSICA 



BB. I/VB. {except upon the flower-stem) thin and green: 

 fl.i. smaller and bright yellow, less prominently 

 eld wed. 



c Plant pnlentially biennial {that is, the root hard and 

 thirkeiied, often distinctly tuberous): foliage firm 



D. Foliage distinctly hairy. 



B&pa, Linn. Common Turnip. Lvs. prominently 



lyrate or intprnipted helow,the root tuberous. — Whatever 



the orinin of tin- Hutuliasia and Turnip may be, the two 



plants sli'n\ L- I ii i.inii-al characters. The tubers of 



the tw" ;i I ! Ill si-ason, texture and flavor. In 



the Hull' I ill leaves immediately following 



the sccil |i .1 1 I . -ii;n-sply hairy, but all subsequent 

 leaves an- entirely smooth, densely glaucous-blue, thick 

 and cabbage-like, with a fleshy petiole and midrib. In 

 the Turnip, the radical leaves are always moi-e or less 

 hairv, and thrv are grppn nnd radish-like, thin, with 

 I tl,r I..,-.- !irf ninfh more lyrate, 

 ii. ' ~ ■■" 1 1- !.,.i i,,|,. ; tin- small leaves 



iliiniiir imd narrower 



' .|"- 1 1 ill- Kiitahaga, the flow- 



II' rnl.KiL-r like, whereas in the 



mall, yellow and mustard-like, with 

 more spreading calyx 

 but the cone of expanding leaves, 

 or the "heart-leaves," always 

 shows the hairs distinctly, 

 while the heart-leaves of the 

 Rutabagas are entirely gla- 





Turnip th.-y 

 shorter claws 

 vary 



feathered petioles, sharply and irregularly toothed, 



a thin hluom : lieak of the pod mori- abrupt : ro..t 



a conical turnip. These routs reach a ■ 

 4 inches, and are scarcely distinguMi 

 turnips in appearance, texture and tin \ I n 



tubers are used as a winter vegetable, ti,, >.(,]- i,, 

 sown in summer. The plant is native to China. It r 

 not appear to have been brought to the attentior 

 botanists until Bretschneider published an account ( 

 in a French .ioiiriial in 1881. Paillieux and Bole 

 Potager d ' u 1 1 I mi ii\i n _'ard It as a variety of i?r«.<; 

 juncea,\'<\' '.J il i '.-e mustard belongs, liut 

 ■ plant. It Ls nearly relatei 

 I h .■ I sprung from the same : 

 iLil. distinguished by its siiat 

 which is shown in Fig. 264. 



very diffei'. i 



Pak-Choi, ai 



cies; but it t.- . 

 toothed lvs., one u 



CC. Plant truly a 

 Pe-ts4i, Bailey. 



lual: foliage profuse, loose and soft, 

 Pe-tsai Cabbage. Fig. 265. Nu- 

 merous radical lvs., large 

 and light green, oblong or 

 ovate-oblong, crinkled and 

 very veiny, and the raar- 

 i'avy, contracted into 

 nd ribbed petiole 1-3 



brous, fleshy, and remind one of the young shoots of 

 sea-kale. The Turnip usually produces seed freely if 

 the bottoms are left in the ground over winter : and 

 thereby the plant spreads, becoming a true annual and a 

 bad weed, with a slender, hard root. 



DD. Foliage not hairy. 



ChininBis, Linn. Pak-Choi Cabbage. Figs. 262, 263. 

 Radical lvs. wavy and ample, glossy green, obovate or 

 round-obovate in general outline, either entire or ob- 

 scurely wavy or even crenate, tapering to a distinct and 

 thick, strong petiole, which is generally not prominently 

 margined ; pod large and tapering into a beak half an 

 inch long; root sometimes tuberous. — This plant is 

 grown by the American Chinese, and is occasionally 

 seen in other gardens (see Bailey, Bull. 67, Cornell Exp. 

 Sta. ). It is impossible to determine if this particular 

 plant is the one which Linnieus meant to distinguish liy 

 his Brassica Chinensis, but it best answers the de- 

 scription in his Amoenitates (vol. 4). In Linnspus' her- 

 barium is a Brassica marked " Chinensis " in his own 

 handwriting, but it is purple-fld. and has lyrate-lobed 

 lvs., whereas Linnffius described his plant as having 

 yellow fls. and Cynoglossum-like lvs. 



napifdrmis, Bailey {Sindpis jiincea, vslt. napifSrmis, 

 Paill. & Boisl. TuBEROus-BOOTED Chinese Mvstard. 

 Fig. 264. Radical lvs. comparatively few, the blade thin 

 and oval in outline, and on long and slender, slightly 



Chinensis. 



in. wide, which is provided with a wide, thin, notched or 

 wavy wing; stem lvs. sessile and clasping; pod of me- 

 dium size, with a short cone-like beak. — The Pe-tsai, or 

 Chinese Cabbage, is no longer a novelty in Amer. gar- 

 dens, although it does not appear to be well known, and 

 its merits are not understood. Its cultivation and pecu- 

 liarities were described in Prance as long ago as 1840, 

 by P^pin, who says that, while the plant had been 

 known in botanic gardens for 20 years, it was brought to 

 notice as a culinary vegetable only three years before 

 he wrote. It appears to have attracted little attention 

 in Europe until very recent years, however, and it is 

 still included in the second edition of Paillieux & Bois' 

 Le Potager d'un Curieux, 1892. It began to attract at- 

 tention in the United States probably about 15 years 

 ago. The leaves tend to form an oblong, loose head, 

 like Cos lettuce. See Cabbage. 



Japdnica, Sieb. California Pepper-grass. Pot- 

 herb Mustard. Fig. 266. Rather numerous radical 

 lvs., oblong or oblong-obovate, the margins either 

 crisped or cut into many very fine divisions, the petiole 

 distinct at its lower end ; stem lvs. all petioled ; pod 

 very small, with a slender beak. — The soft, thin lvs. 

 make excellent "greens." Long known, but with no 

 designative name, in old gardens in this country, and 

 occasionally runs wild. Int. in 1890 by John Lewis 

 ChUds as California Pepper-grass. A very worthy 

 plant (see Bull. 67, Cornell Exp. Sta.), 



