Description of Frcuchzvccd. 169 



winter and mature them the following 

 spring and summer. The name stinkweed 

 is due to the offensive odor which it pos- 

 sesses, and which it imparts to the beef and 

 milk of animals which feed upon it. It is 

 of the same family as mustard, and, like all 

 weeds of that family, it is difficult to eradi- 

 cate. In certain sections of the western 

 prairies it is giving very much trouble, more 

 especially in Minnesota, the Dakotas and 

 Manitoba. 



French weed is usually about a foot high, 

 but under favorable circumstances it will 

 reach the height of two feet, and the plants 

 are capable of bearing seeds though not 

 more than 2 inches high. The branches are 

 numerous. The leaves are oblong in shape 

 and of a deep green shade. The flowers 

 are very small and white in color. The seed 

 pods are elliptical and flat, and from one- 

 fourth of an inch to half an inch in diame- 

 ter. They are very numerous and each pod 

 contains several small seeds. 



Frenchweed will ripen its seeds at any 

 season of the year from June until the 

 arrival of the autumn frosts. The season 

 of maturity is dependent chiefly on the time 

 of the year at which the plants commence 



