104 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



writers that it should most appropriately be applied to 

 plants of the present order, and Linnaeus bestowed it on 

 the genus to which our present plant belongs. Those who 

 have been in the habit of taking a little mustard with 

 their beef will see some connection of ideas ; but the true 

 mustard is derived from another plant, as we need scarcely 

 remind our readers. The plant has been cultivated as a 

 pot-herb, but its tough stringiness would surely tell against 

 it, and we imagine it would stand little chance in the 

 popular taste against a dish of green peas or asparagus. 

 Birds are very fond of its seeds, and sheep and goats eat 

 it, while cows, pigs, and horses decline to have anything to 

 do with it if they can help it. The specific name refers to 

 the bygone officinal value of the plant in rural practice. 

 Gerarde calls the plant the bank-cress, and in Wales it is 

 the Arfog meddygawl. In the semi-botanical, semi-astro- 

 logical treatises of the middle ages, the hot and fiery nature 

 of the plant pointed to the evident dominion of Mars 

 over it. 



