riDustarb jfamil^. 



Pepper-grass. Lepidium Virginicfum. 



Birds' Pepper (Neb.). 



Found blooming inconspicuously from June to October, upon 

 barrens and waste fields.. 



The often branching stalk is leafy above the first branch, though 

 bare below, and grows from 6 to 24 inches in height according to its 

 opportunities ; it is slender but of a woody, tough fibre, and smooth ; 

 gray-green in color. 



The narrow small leaf, with its tapering base, is only occasionally 

 notched, and is of a dusty-green color. The leaves are set on the stalk 

 alternately, and in little groups. 



The very tiny unnoticeable flower has 4 thin, white petals, and 2 

 little stamens ; the green calyx is barely visible. The flowers are set 

 on thread stems, in loose, stiff, club-shaped and long clusters. 



The most important feature of this plant is the seed ; as the bloom* 

 moves upward it leaves behind a long stretch of maturing seed-pods, 

 like little flat discs with a tiny notch at the top; a pungent flavor 

 belongs to these pods, which is found acceptable by the cosmopolitan 

 palate of childhood. 



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