MUSTARD FAMILY. Cruciferx. 



„ .. ^ , ^ A bright yellow-flowered sijecies with a 

 Yellow Rocket , • , i , 



or Winter Cress ^"^M^^® stem terminated by one or more 

 Barbarea md- showy spikes of flowers beneath which the 

 garis long curved seed-pods later appear in a 



^^"•**^ loose cluster. Upper leaves stemless, 



lower ones cut in usually five divisions, the 

 terminal one very large ; all deep shining green. The 

 pretty four-petaled flowers with six stamens four of 

 which are quite prominent, are frequently visited by the 

 early bees and handsome flies of the genus SijrphidcE. 

 They yield honey and pollen. 1-2 feet high. In moist 

 places along the road, and in meadows. Me., south to 

 Va. , and west. Naturalized from Europe, but indigenous 

 in the west. 



Hedge Mustard ^ homely straggHng weed with tiny 

 Sisymbrium li^^t yellow flowers, and light green, 

 officinale smooth leaves, with 3-6 lobes, irregularly 



Light yellow blunt-toothed. The generally smooth stem 

 May-Septem- ^^.j^j^ ^^jj widely spreading, wiry branches, 



tipped with a few flowers and curiously 

 set with the close-pressing pods. 1-3 feet high. In 

 waste places throughout our range. Naturalized from 

 Europe. 



Charlock or A coarse and vexatious weed in culti- 



Field Mustard vated fields and waste places, adventive 

 Brassica Sina- ^^.^^ ^^^ ^j^ Country, and widely distrib- 



pistrnm , . , , , ^ _,, 



Yellow uted through the northern States. The 



May-Septeni= light yellow flowers over ^ inch broad, in 

 ber small terminal clusters. The leaves ovate 



with few if any lobes, indistinctly or sparsely toothed, 

 with short stems or none at all. The seed-pods f-inch 

 long, contracted between the seeds, and lump}^ in con- 

 tour. 1-2 feet high. Me., west to Neb. and S. Dak., 

 and south. 



Another common weed in grain fields. 

 Black Mustard i , j -.i j a i i 



Bra.^sica nigra ^'^^^ beside the road. A more widely 

 Yellow branched plant than the preceding, and 



June-Septem= with far more deeply lobed leaves ; one 

 ^^^ terminal large division, and generally four 



lateral ones, all finely toothed. The small pure light 

 yellow^ flowers less tlian i inch broad are frequently 

 172 



