50 



WEEDS AXD USEFUL PLANTS. 



OuLiivATO- 0-A3rELixA. Wild Flax. Gold of Pleasure. 



Fi\ CameliDe cultivee. Geiin. Der Leindotter. Sjjo.n. Miagro. 



Boot annual, fusiform, ratlicr slender. Stem IS inclies to 2 or tliree feet liigh, simple 

 paniculately branching at summit, rougliisli-pubesceut below, smoothish above. Leaoes 

 1-3 or 4 inclies long ; the lo^Ter ones longest and often somewhat spatulate or ob lance- 

 olate ; those above graduaUv smaller and smoother, sagittate with acute subamplexicaul 

 lobes at base ; pubescence of the lower leaves and stem often branched or bifurcate. 

 Racemes corrmbose-paniculate, elongating ; pedicds half an inch to an inch long, without 

 bracts. Pdals pale yellow, rather small, c'uneate or obovate-oblong, obtuse. Silicl-cs 

 about one-fourth of an inch long, with a keel-hke margin on each side ; style about half as 

 long as the silicic, persistent, finally sphtting with the dehiscent valves. Seeds reddish 

 yellow. 



Cultivated fields : among wheat, flax, kc: introduced. Native of Europe. H. ilay- 

 June. Fr. July 



Obs. This was introduced witli Flax, and remains as a weed where 

 the culture of that plant has been abandoned. It was formerly a popu- 

 lar notion that the plant was a kind of transmuted or degenerate Flax, 

 and is spoken of by the older writers as Pseudo Linum (False Flax). 

 Such errors as this and the one that Wheat degenerates into Chess 

 would no longer hold a place among agriculturists, did they but prop- 

 erly inform themselves concerning the objects among which their 

 lives are passed. 



8. CAPSEL'LA, Vent. Shepheed's Pcese. 



[Diminutive of the Latin, Capsula, a capsule ; in allusion to the frmt.] 



Pod (pouch) iuversely triangular-heart-shaped ; valves boat-shaped, 

 coriaceous, not winged ; cells many-seeded. Flowers small, in elongat- 

 ing racemes. 



1. C. Biirsa-pdstoris, Moench. Eadical leaves mostly pinnatifid ; 

 ttem-leaves lanceolate, arrow-shaped, sessile. 



Shepherd's Purse Capsella. Shepherd's Pm-se. [Pastor. 

 Fr. Bourse de Pasteur. Germ. Die Hirten-tasche. Span. Bolsa de 



iJoof annual. ^€)?i3or4-lS inches high, more or less hirsute, and often branched. 

 Radical leaves 2 or 3-6 or 8 inches long. Racemes at first corymbose, finally elongated. 

 PeMs white. 



Fields and road-sides: introduced. Native of E'orope. Fl. April -September. Fr. 

 June -October. 



Ohs. This worthless little intruder is found in almost every field ; and 

 is sometimes so abundant as to be rather a nuisance. Such small 

 weeds, however, can generally be suppressed by careful culture, and in- 

 ducing a vigorous growth of more useful plants. 



9. LEPID'IUM, R, Br. Peppergrass. 

 Pod (pouch) roundish, flattened contrary to the narrow partition, usually 

 notched at the apex ; the valves boat-shaped and keeled. Seeds 1 in 

 each cell. Flowers small, white. Stamens often only 2. 



