Yellow and Orange 



Commentators differ as to which is the mustard of the par- 

 able^-this common black mustard, or a rarer shrub-hke tree 

 (Salvador a Persica), with an equivalent Arabic name, a pungent 

 odor, and a very small seed. Inasmuch as the mustard which is 

 systematically planted for fodder by Old World farmers grows 

 with the greatest luxuriance in Palestine, and the comparison be- 

 tween the size of its seed and the plant's great height was already 

 proverbial in the East when Jesus used it, evidence strongly 

 favors this wayside weed. Indeed, the late Dr. Royle, who en- 

 deavored to prove that it was the shrub that was referred to, finally 

 found that it does not grow in Galilee. 



Now, there are two species which furnish the most power- 

 fully pungent condiment known to commerce ; but the tiny dark 

 brown seeds of the black mustard are sharper than the serpent's 

 tooth, whereas the pale brown seeds of the White Mustard, often 

 mixed with them, are far more mild. The latter {Sinapis alba) is 

 a similar, but more hairy, plant, with slightly larger yellow flowers. 

 Its pods are constricted like a necklace between the seeds. 



The coarse Hedge Mustard {Sisymbrium officinale), with 

 rigid, spreading branches, and spikes of tiny pale yellow flowers, 

 quickly followed by awl-shaped pods that are closely appressed 

 to the stem, abounds in waste places throughout our area. It 

 blooms from May to November, like the next species. 



Another common and most troublesome weed from Europe 

 is the Field or Corn Mustard, Charlock or Field Kale {Brassica 

 arvensis) — Sinapis arvensis of Gray — ^found in grain fields, gar- 

 dens, rich waste lands, and rubbish heaps. The alternate leaves, 

 which stand boldly out from the stem, are oval, coarsely saw- 

 toothed, or the lower ones more irregular, and lobed at their 

 bases, all rough to the touch, and conspicuously veined. The 

 four-parted yellow flowers, measuring half an inch or more across, 

 have six stamens (like the other members of this cross-bearing 

 family), containing nectar at their bases. Two of them are 

 shorter than the other four. Honey-bees, ever abundant, the 

 brilliant Syrphidae flies which love yellow, and other small 

 visitors after pollen and nectar, to obtain the latter insert their 

 tongues between the stamens, and usually cross-fertilize the flow- 

 ers. In stormy weather, when few insects fly, the anthers finally 

 turn their pollen-covered tips upward ; then, by a curvature of 

 the tip of the stamens, they are brought in contact with the 

 flower's own stigma ; for it is obviously better that even self- 

 fertilized seed should be set than none at all. (See Ladies'-smock, 

 p. 189.) "The birds of the air" may not lodge in the char- 

 lock's few and feeble branches ; nevertheless they come seek- 

 ing the mild seeds in the strongly nerved, smooth pods that 

 spread in a loose raceme. Domestic pigeons eat the seeds 

 greedily. 



The highly intelligent honey-bee, which usually confines 



301 



