BISCUTEL'LA HIS'PIDA. 
HISPID BISCUTELLA. 
Class. 
TETRADYNAMIA. 
Natural Order. 
CRUCIFER m.. 
Order. 
SILICULOSA. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Introduced 
S. Europe. 
2 feet. 
July, Aug. 
Annual. 
in 1822. 
No. 206. 
The origin of the word Biscutella, is found in 
the Latin bis, twice; and scutulum, a little shield; 
in allusion to the double shield represented by its 
silicle or seed vessel. Hispida, rough, or bristly. 
The shape of the seed-vessel has also produced this 
genus the name of Buckler-Mustard, but the term 
is rarely heard. 
It is not so much under an impression of the 
beauty, or any other attractive property of this 
plant, that we are induced to present it to our 
readers; but rather, as the seeds of several species 
of Biscutella are now offered amongst new annuals, 
that they may be made acquainted with the general 
character of the genus. The greater part of the 
Biscutellas are hardy annuals, natives of France, 
Spain, and Italy, where some of them hold the 
same place in agriculture, as our Sinapis arvensis, 
or Charlock, does in Britain, and for which they 
may readily be mistaken by the common observer. 
It is easily propagated by sowing seeds in a light 
soil, in the spring. Or, if sown in autumn, the 
young plants will live through the winter and 
produce earlier flowers. 
Bot. Mag. 2444. 
