N. 0. CRUCIFER^. 95 



An annual or biennial herb, glabrous or slightly hairy, 

 glaucous. Stem 6-18 in., erect, branching. Leaves sessile, 1-4 

 in., pinnatifid ; segments coarsely toothed, terminal, one broad ; 

 upper leaves smaller, sometimes very entire. Flowers pale 

 yellow or white, f in. across in racemes ; veins dark. Sepals 

 erect, lateral, slightly saccate. Petals clawed. Stigma capitate. 

 Pods erect, pressed against stem, oblong-ovoid, J-l in., nearly 

 terete, pro-onged in a flat-pointed, seedless beak half the length 

 of the valves. Seeds in two rows. Cotyledons folded longi- 

 tudinally over the radicle (Collett.) 



Cultivated as a field-crop in N. W. Provinces, for the 

 oil expressed from the seed. Simla. An escape ; cultivated in 

 Central India, Western Himalaya, Upper Gangetic valley. 



Use : — It has properties similar to those of the water-cress 

 and the cuckoo flower. It is acrid and used for purposes similar 

 to those of Mustard. 



The seeds are dark brown or dark grey and yield 30'8 per cent, of clear 

 yellow oil with a slight mustardlike odor and taste. Sp. gr. at 15° C, 0*915 

 Saponification value, 175°7 ; iodine value, 101*6. The oil could probably be 

 used as a substitute for rape or colza oil. 100 seeds weigh only - 25 grm. 



Bulletin Imperial Institute 1913. 



83. Capsella Barsa-Pastovis, Moench, h.f.b.i., 

 i. 159. 



Habitat : — A cosmopolitan weed in the vicinity of cultiva- 

 tion throughout temperate India, 



An annual herb, more or less covered with forked hairs ; 

 root long, tapering. Stems erect, 6-18 in., branched. Radical 

 leaves variable, usually pinnatifid, sometimes lanceolate, ter- 

 minal lobe broadly triangular ; segments nearly entire ; upper 

 leaves pinnatifid, lobed at the base, stem-clasping; uppermost 

 lanceolate. Flowers small, T l in. diam. ; white, racemed. Sepals 

 spreading, equal at the base. Pods nearly flat, triangular or 

 obcordate, about i in. broad. Seeds many, in two rows, oblong, 

 punctate; radicle incumbent, 



Use : — " This very common weed is bitter and pungent, 

 yields a volatile oil on distillation identical with the oil of mus- 

 tard, and has been used as an antiscorbutic, also in hematuria 



