30 



THALAMTFLORffi 



7. B. sinapis (Charlock, Wild Mustard).— Porfs with many angles, 

 rugged, longer than the awl-shaped beak, spreading ; leaves rough, 

 toothed ; plant 1-2 feet high ; flowers bright yellow. A common 

 and most pernicious weed in cornfields, sometimes springing up 

 profusely from ground which has recently been disturbed, though 

 unknown there before. — Fl. all the summer. Annual. 



8. B. nigra (Black Mustard), — Pole's quadrangular, smooth, 

 slightly beaked, close pressed to the stalk ; lower leaves pinnate, 

 with rounded terminal lobe ; upper leaves narrow, pointed, un- 

 divided, smooth. Taller than either of the preceding, but bearing 

 smaller flowers. The seeds yield the well-known table condiment. 

 — Fl. June, July. Annual. 



9. B. adpressa. — Resembling the last, but the foliage is hoary, 

 the pods short, beaked. Found in the Channel Islands. — Biennial. 



24. RaphAnus [Radish) 



I. R. Raphanisirtim (Wild Radish). — 

 A bristly or almost prickly plant : leaves 

 horizontal, pinnate, with rounded ter- 

 minal lobe ; flowers rather large, straw- 

 coloured, veined with purple ; well dis- 

 tinguished when in seed by its jointed 

 i-celledpods. — Fl. all the summer. Annual. 

 Cornfields. 



A variety named R. maritinius, which 

 grows on sea-chffS, has its leaves com- 

 posed of large an(;l small leaflets arranged 

 alternately. In both varieties the flowers 

 are sometimes almost white. 



An interesting cruciferous plant, rare 

 in England and not indigenous, is Isatis 

 tinctoria : erect, smooth, glaucous, 1-3 

 feet high. It was witli I his plant — Woad — that the Ancient Britons 

 stained their bodies blue, and it is still in use as a dye. 



Raphanus Raphan:strum 

 {Wild Radish) 



Natural Order VII 



RESEDACE^.— The Mignonette Tribe 



Sepals 4-6, narrow ; petals unequal, ragged, or fringed at the 

 back ; stamens 10-24, inserted as well as the petals on an irregular 

 disc, which is placed on one side of the flower ; stigmas 3, sessile ; 

 ovary 3-lobed, i-celled, many-seeded, open at the summit ; seeds 

 in 3 rows. Herbaceous or somewhat shrubby plants, with alter- 

 nate leaves and minute stipules, having their flowers in racemes or 



