MUSTARD FAMILY. Cruciferse. 



visited by the smaller bees, and Syrphid flies ; the pistil 

 much exceeding the stamens in length, adapts the 

 flower to cross- fertilization. The pod is ^ inch long, 

 four-sided, and lies close to the stem ; the seeds are 

 black-brown. 2-5 feet high. Naturalized from Europe, 

 and extending throughout our range. 

 White Mustard ^ similar but rarer species, more or less 

 Brassica alba hairy, with bristly pods, contracted be- 

 Yellow tween the seeds ; these are light yellow- 



June- August brown. The flowers are a little larger. 

 1-2 feet high. In fields and on roadsides, escaped from 

 gardens ; naturalized from Europe. Both of these last 

 species introduced into Neb. 



Shepherd's A very common weed on roadsides near 



Purse dwellings, and on waste ground, with 



Capsella Bursa. ^-^^^ white flowers. The Latin name is 

 yyj^j^g literally a shephercVs little purse, in allu- 



April-Septem= sion to the shape of the tiny seed-pods. 

 ber The root-leaves are deeply cut, and form a 



rosette, the stem-leaves are small, lance-shaped, and 

 indistinctly toothed. 8-18 inches high. Naturalized 

 from Europe, and distributed throughout our range. 

 Wild Pepper= A somewhat similar species, but more 

 grass branched, remarkable for its peppery- 



LepidiumVir. testing seed-pods which cluster thickly 

 Y^iii^g about the flowering stems in a cylindrical 



May-Septeni= curving column beneath the few terminat- 

 ber ing white flowers. Basal leaves obovate 



(tapering to a stemlike base) with a few small lateral 

 divisions, stem-leaves small and lance-shaped ; all 

 toothed, 6-15 inches high. Common on roadsides 

 everywhere. 



174 



