MUSTARD FAMILY 
41 
to be entire) and yellow flowers. Petals with long claw and abruptly 
spreading blade, 4 greenish glands alternating with the claws of the 
petals. Pod terete, ending in a stout beak. (The Latin name for cab¬ 
bage. ) 
Pods ascending on spreading pedicels. 
Stem leaves auriculate or cordate-clasping; beak terete. 
Leaves from the first more or less fleshy ; flowers creamy yellow. 
Leaves glabrous from the first.1. B. oleracea. 
First leaves hairy.2. B. campestris. 
Leaves thin and green ; flowers bright yellow ; root tuberous....3. B. rapa. 
Stem leaves petioled or merely sessile; beak flattish.4. B. arvensis. 
Pods closely appressed to the stem. 
Stems glabrous or nearly so ; pods somewhat quadrangular.5. B. nigra. 
Stems retrorse-hispidulose; pods terete.6. B. adpressa. 
1. B. oleracea L. Cabbage. Leaves from the first more or less fleshy 
and glaucous-blue; flowers large, 8 to 24 mm. long; pods large, long- 
beaked.—Native of Eur. Var. caulo-rapa DC. Kohlrabi. Stems tuber¬ 
ous above the roots, the tuber bearing the leaves.—Cult. Var. gemmifera 
DC. Brussels Sprouts. Stem tall, erect, the axillary buds developed into 
little heads.—Cult. Var. acephala DC. Kale. Leaves thick, tender, 
loose, not packed into heads.—Cult. Var. capitata L. Garden Cab¬ 
bage. Main axis short and thick, the leaves densely packed' into a 
gigantic bud or head; leaves plane, not blistered.—Cult. Var. bullata 
DC. Savoy Cabbage. Leaves packed into a head, blistered or puckered. 
—Cult. Var. botrytis L. Cauliflower. Flower-cluster condensed and 
thickened, forming a head.—Cult. 
2. B. campestris L. “Common Yellow Mustard”. Stem sparingly 
branched, 6 to 17 dm. high; herbage glaucous; basal leaves petioled; 
upper leaves all sessile and clasping by an auricled base; flowers 6 to 8 
mm. long; pods 3 to 3.6 cm. long, borne on spreading pedicels.—Culti¬ 
vated fields, nat. from Eur. Var. napo-brassica DC. Rutabaga. Root 
tuberous.—Cult. 
3. B. rapa L. Turnip. Leaves hairy, lyrate or interrupted below; 
flowers small; petals deciduous.—Cult, from Eur. 
4. B. arvensis (L.) B.S.P. Charlock. Stem 2.8 to 5.7 dm. high; 
herbage light green; leaves petioled or sessile by a narrow base, not 
clasping; pods ascending or erect, 2.4 to 3.6 cm. long.—Sparingly nat. 
from Eur. 
5. B. nigra (L.) Koch. Black Mustard. Stem 8.5 to 17 or 34. dm. 
high; herbage dark green: leaves all petioled; uppermost often linear, 
entire and hanging; petals 7 mm. long; pods 1.2 to 1.8 cm. long.—Culti¬ 
vated fields, nat. from Eur. It is a serious pest in grain fields. Even 
in uncultivated lands it may become so tall as to overtop both horse and 
rider, thus verifying the description in Matthew 4:31-32, it “shooteth out 
great branches so that the fowl of the air may lodge under the shadow 
of it.” (Matthew is a book in the Bible.) The seeds are medicinal and 
for this purpose Brassica nigra is cultivated as a crop plant in Santa 
Barbara Co. 
6. B. adpressa Boiss. Stems 4.3 to 8.6 dm. high; herbage hispidulose; 
leaves pinnately parted or the uppermost subentire.—Along the coast and 
spreading into the interior; an offensive weed, nat. from Eur. 
