676 The American Naturalist. [July, 
large portion of the winter diet of our ancestors/"'^ It is, however, 
as a vegetable that we treat of it here. 
Sinapis alba L. — White mustard is grown in gardens for the 
young leaves, which are used in salads, and about London is 
grown in gardens to a large extent. In 1542 Fuchsius,'"'* a 
German writer, says it is planted everywhere in gardens. In 
1597, in England, Gerarde^'^' says it is not common, but he has 
distributed the seed, so that he thinks it is reasonably well known. 
It is mentioned in American gardens in 1806."^' 
White mustard, or Salad mustard, is called in France, moutarde 
blanche, moutardin, plante an benrre, seneve blanc ; in Germany, 
gelber senf ; in Flanders, witte mostaard ; in Holland, gele inos- 
terd or mostaard; in Italy, senapa bianca ; in Spain, mostaza 
blanca ; '"*' in Greece, agrionrouva, napi, sinapi ; '"' in China, 
Sinapis nigra L. — The black mustard is described as a garden 
plant by Albertus Magnus "*^ in the thirteenth century, and is 
mentioned by the botanists of the sixteenth century. It is, how- 
ever, more grown as a field crop for its seed, from which the 
mustard of commerce is derived, yet finds place also as a salad 
plant. Two varieties are described, the black mustard of Sicily 
and the large-seeded black }^'' It was in American gardens in 
1 806 or earlier. 
Black mustard, brozvn mustard, or red mustard is called in 
France, moutarde noire, navuce rouge, russebau, seneve noir ; in 
Germany, brauner senf ; in Flanders, zwarte mustaard ; in Hol- 
land, bruine mosterd ; in Spain, mostaza nigra ; '"'' in Italy, senape, 
senapi}^''' 
Mustard. — Chinese Cabbage-Leaved. — This vegetable, the 
.species not indicated, is described by Vilmorin "■*' as under Euro- 
pean culture, and he says that in warm countries it forms one of 
the most highly esteemed green vegetables. In China Sinapis 
"w Pharmacographia, 1879, 64, 69. 107 Pickering. Ch. Hist., 246. 
