CRUCIFER^E 



CRUCIFER^E MUSTARD FAMILY 



Capsella Bursa-pastoris, (L.) Britton 



Capsella: Latin diminutive for a box. 

 Bursa-pastoris: Latin for a shepherd's wallet. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: gardens, neglected fields, 

 roadsides. 



THE PLANT: from a long, deep root, erect, six inches to 

 twenty inches high; the stem mainly without hairs above, 

 below with short soft hairs. 



THE LEAVES: (stem) few, alternate; two inches to five 

 inches long, lanceolate, entire or round-toothed; (the 

 basal) forming a rosette, larger, more or less, lobed or 

 pinnatifid, rarely entire. 



THE FLOWERS: very small, on slender stems; four petals; 

 four sepals, which fall early; six stamens of unequal length. 



THE FRUIT: a pod, heart-shaped. 



For various reasons, one should be able to identify this 

 weed, which as Ada Georgia points out, is, next to chick- 

 weed, the most common in the world, because it is so 

 prolific and the seeds have a long vitality. Also it is 

 harmful, for it absorbs much fertility from the soil, and, 

 further, it often harbours a fungus disease, which is ruinous 

 to cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, and radishes, and will 

 infect the soil, where these might otherwise be cultivated. 



From this plant is made a valuable drug. 

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