106 GROUND FEEDS. 



The plant grows in grain fields and waste places 



throughout the country, but more plentifully east of Lake 



Superior. It is an erect plant six inches to 



md Seed* two feet n * gn ' with dark green, lance-shaped, 



sparsely toothed leaves, and flowers one-fifth of 



an inch in diameter, in clusters an inch across at the tips 



of elongating racemes. 



The slender seed pods are erect, on spreading stalks. 

 They are one-half to one inch long, and four-angled. The 

 small seeds, one-twenty-fourth of an inch long, are red- 

 dish yellow with the scar end darker. Their characteris- 

 tic bitter taste as well as their microscopic structure 

 afford a good means of identification. 



WILD RADISH Raphanus Eaphanistrum L. 



The effects of Wild Radish are very similar to those of 

 Wild Mustard. Its acridity, according to Long, produces 

 pronounced intestinal disorders. 



The plant, like many others, is an introduced one. It 

 is present in serious quantities only in the eastern pro- 

 vinces and states, but is found also in British Columbia 

 and California. It grows one to two feet high, with a 

 few widely spreading branches quite low on the stem. 

 The pale, yellowish green leaves are deeply lobed and 

 provided with a few stiff bristles. The flowers are fewer 

 and larger than those of Wild Mustard and are con- 

 spicuously veined. The pods are swollen and jointed, 

 with partitions between the seeds. When ripe, the pod 

 breaks at the joints, and the seeds are shed, each enclosed 

 in its own portion of pod. 



The seed itself is about one-eighth of an inch long, oval, 

 irregular, and slightly flattened. It may, however, vary 

 greatly in size and shape. The finely netted surface is 

 reddish brown in colour. 



