44 



to ripen and dr} r out, when they will burst open and the seeds can be 

 readily shaken out. 



Mustard seed has no odor whatever when collected, not even when 

 it is powdered in its dry state, but as soon as water is added in grinding 

 it, the powerful, penetrating mustard odor is developed. The taste is 

 sharp and pungent. 



WHITE MUSTARD. 



Sinajyis alba L. 



Another common name. — Yellow mustard. (Fig. 31.) 



Range and habitat. — White mustard is a weed found in cultivated 



Fig. 31.— White mustard {Sinapis alba L.). 



hind along waysides and fence row-, but is not so abundant nor so 

 widely distributed as the black mustard. It is naturalized in this 

 country from Europe. 



Description. — This plant i- very similar to black mustard, but is 

 smaller (growing only about 1 to 2 feet tall), bright green, but the 

 flowers and seeds are much larger, and the rough-hairy pods with their 

 long, sickle-shaped beaks are -pleading instead of being pressed 

 against the stem. The flowers are paler yellow than those of the fore- 



188 



