By M. De Candolle. 



insensibly thinner till it ends in a radicle ; it is less fleshy 

 than the flattened Turnip, but with respect to its foliage and 

 flavour, it bears a strong resemblance to the latter, and has 

 not unfrequently been confounded with it by modern bota- 

 nists. The ancients, on the contrary, distinguished it per- 

 fectly well, and described it in most of their works under the 

 name of Rapa oblonga. It is now so little cultivated that 1 

 have not been able to collect more than a few plants scat- 

 tered here and there under different denominations, in the 

 several countries where I have studied rural productions, and 

 I have constantly seen it of a white colour. When more 

 particularly attended to, I shall not be surprised to find it 

 offers the same variety of colour as the flattened Turnip. In 

 speaking of it, several ancient botanists have cited examples 

 of the enormous weight to which it arrives. Matthiolus* 

 speaks of an oblong Turnip weighing thirty pounds ; those I 

 have seen were, on the contrary, considerably less in size and 

 weight than the flattened Turnip ; however, theRajm oblonga 

 is exactly intermediate between that and the following variety. 



Third Race. Brassica Rapa oleifera. 

 Wild or oleiferous Turnip. 

 This third race of Turnips appears to be the wild type of 

 the species, or at least is very near to a wild state ; it is dis- 

 tinguished from the two preceding varieties by its root being 

 slender, very slightly fleshy, nearly cylindrical, and running 

 to a point at its extremity. It was mentioned, and tolerably 

 described by ancient authors under the name of Wild Turnip. 

 I recognised the same plant in Dauphiny, under that ofNavette, 



* Matthiclus Comm. page 330. 



