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CRUCIFER. 72 
SPECIES IL—BRASSICA ALBA. Bois. 
Pratt LXXXIV.* 
Sinapis alba, Zinn. Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. et Helv. Vol. IL. Zetr, Tab, LXXXV. 
Fig. 4424. 
Brassica alba, Benth. Handbook of Brit. Fl. p. 92. 
Sinapis alba, Linn. et Auct. Plur. 
Leaves all pinnatifid (or sub-lyrate) and stalked. Pods spreading, 
hispid, sub-cylindrical, beaded; valves each with 5 prominent 
ribs; beak not deciduous, flattened, ensiform, usually much longer 
than the valves. Seeds 2 or 3 in each cell, commonly dull yellow, 
indistinctly punctured (to the naked eye). 
A weed in cultivated ground. Not very common, but generally 
distributed throughout Britain. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual. Summer, Autumn. 
Stem erect, furrowed, 1 to 3 feet high, branched; branches 
ascending. Leaves pinnatifid, the divisions of the lower and middle 
leaves often separated quite down to the midrib, so that the leaf 
becomes pinnipartite, terminal lobe often not much larger than 
the lateral ones; upper leaves with the incisions not nearly so deep 
as in the lower ones. Flowers sub-corymbose, about 4 inch across, 
bright yellow. Pedicels longer than the calyx when in flower, about 
as long as the pod without the beak in fruit. Pods rather more than 
1 inch long, including the beak, which is longer than the valves, and 
often contains a seed at the base; the beak is less hispid than the 
valves, and in this species remains until the latter separate, while in 
B. Sinapistrum it falls off before that takes place. Seeds generally 
pale in this country, but in the South of Europe they are often 
reddish brown. Plant bright green, hispid, with reflexed hairs. 
The pinnatifid leaves and the short, few-seeded pods with 
long ensiform beaks, distinguish this plant from B. Sinapistrum. 
The lower pods also spread horizontally, while in the preceding 
species they are ascending. 
‘ White Mustard. 
French, Moutarde Blanche, Navette Cité, Graine de Beurre. German, Weisser Senf. 
The specific name signifies its characteristic appearance, white. The common 
White Mustard is a frequent plant in fields and roadsides. A pungent powder 
is obtained from the seeds when ground, but much inferior in strength to the 
Black Mustard. This species is chiefly cultivated as a small salad, and is used like 
cresses while in the seed-leaf. When these are young and tender they are pleasant 
* The Plate is E. B. 1677, unaltered. 
