CABBAGE 185 



IMPORTANT ECONOMIC FAMILIES OF PLANTS 



Students should familiarize themselves, in so far as pos- 

 sible, with representative plants in the following families, by 

 studying the living plants where possible, and by giving 

 special attention to their commercial importance. Most of these 

 families are represented by plants which are common to our 

 farms ; the fruits of others can be secured on the local markets ; 

 and the historical accounts and commercial uses will furnish 

 important lines of study. The studies of these families may be 

 supplemented by others that are convenient or of local 



importance. 



t 



MUSTARD FAMILY (CRUCIFERSj) 



The flowers of this family are usually borne in terminal 

 racemes; usually white or yellow; four petals; four sepals ar- 

 ranged in form of a cross ; four long and two short stamens and 

 two stigmas on a single, two-chambered, many-seeded ovary. 

 The plants are mostly herbaceous, sometimes woody, with cylin- 

 drical or angular stemsi and with a pungent, watery juice. The 

 leaves are simple, usually alternate, entire, lobed or bisected 

 and without stipules. The fruit is long, slender and pod-like. 

 None of these plants are poisonous. Many members of this 

 family of plants are very useful as vegetables, forage crops 

 and in medicines. Let us consider a few of the most common 

 and important. 



Cabbage (Brassica oleracece L.) (Fig. 114). This well- 

 known plant is derived from a wild plant in the south of Eng- 

 land and other parts of western Europe. It is perennial, pro- 

 ducing yellow flowers and abundant seeds the second year. 

 Plants selected for seed are put in trenches and covered with 

 soil for the winter. They are reset the following spring, bloom 

 and produce seed abundantly. Cabbage seed growing is a well- 



