MUSTARD FAMILY. Crucifcrac. 



There are a good many kinds of Lesquerella, all Ameri 

 can ; low plants, more or less hairy or scurfy; flowers mostly 

 yellow, in clusters; petals without claws; pods roundish, 

 more or less inflated, and giving the common name, Blad- 

 der-pod, also used for Isomeris arborea. 



Pretty little plants, often growing in 



White Bladder- quant ities among rocks in mountain 



Lesquerella canyons. The slender stems are from a 



purpurea few inches to over a foot tall, springing 



White, pink from a cluster of root-leaves, varying a 



good deal in shape, dull-green and harsh 



to the touch. The flowers are half an 



inch or more across, with white petals, often tinged with 



pink, with a little yellow in the throat, and form a pretty, 



rather flat-topped cluster. 



In desert places, such as the terrible 

 YeUow Bladder- sandy wastes o f the Petrified Forest, 



Lesquerella where it seems a miracle that anything 



Anzdnica should grow, we find the close, pale, gray- 



Yellow green tufts of this little plant, crowned 



Summer with racemes o f sma ll bright-yellow flowers. 



The small, thickish leaves are long, narrow 

 and white with close down, the stems, about three inches 

 high, branch at the root and the little pods are tipped with 

 a style of about their own length. L. Gordoni, of Arizona, 

 also has clusters of little yellow flowers, often covering 

 sandy hillsides with bright color; the leaves slightly stiff 

 and rough, the pods much inflated. It resembles L. 

 purpurea in general form and size. 



There are many kinds of Brassica, coarse "weeds" in 

 this country. This is the ancient Latin name for Cabbage, 

 which belongs to this genus, as well as Cauliflower, Turnip, 

 and Brussels Sprouts. 



A European "weed," common every- 

 Black Mustard T ^ _ ,.. . . . 



Brassica nlgra where - In California it grows to an 

 Yellow enormous -height, sometimes twelve feet, 



Summer an d when in bloom is a beautiful feature 



u * s< of the landscape, covering the fields with a 



shimmering sheet of pale gold. The leaves are dark- 

 green, smooth or with a few hairs, all with leaf -stalks, the 



184 



