190 
CRUCIFERAE (MUSTARD FAMILY) 
young plants resemble cabbage. In the second season the 
fruiting stalk appears, one to four feet tall, slender but 
stiff and erect, Lecoming hard as wire when mature; stem 
Fie. 133. — 
Hare’s-ear Mus- 
tard (Conringia 
orientalis). X }. 
leaves oblong, rather thick, also smooth and 
glaucous, shaped like a rabbit’s ears and clasping 
the stem by two rounded auricles at the base. 
These succulent leaves, particularly on young 
autumn plants, are crisp and tender and make 
good salad and greens; they absorb most of the 
food and moisture of the soil, and the accom- 
panying crop does not usually amount to much 
where the weed is very plentiful. Flowers cream- 
white and only about a quarter-inch broad. But 
the pods that follow on the elongating stalk are 
about four inches long when mature, slim, smooth, 
and square, each one containing about fifty brown 
seeds, rounded oblong in shape, very mucilaginous 
when wet, which causes them to stick to the feet 
of animals, to a boot-sole, or to a wagon wheel, 
and helps in their distribution. (Fig. 133.) 
Means of control 
Sow clean seed. If the infestation is new, hoe or 
spud out every autumn plant and hand-pull every 
flowering stalk in its first bloom; and if pods have 
formed, burn them, lest they ripen on the stalks. 
The smooth, waxy surface of the plant sheds 
all liquids like a duck’s back and sprays cannot 
harm it. Drag out spring seedlings with a weed- 
ing harrow and disk off the autumn plants. In 
every case prevent seeding if possible. 
GARLIC MUSTARD 
Alliaria officinalis, Andrz. 
Other English names: Hedge Garlic, Jack-by-the-hedge, Sauce- 
alone. 
Introduced. 
Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
