There are a good many kinds of Lesquerella, all American; low plants,
more or less hairy or scurfy; flowers mostly yellow, in clusters;
petals without claws; pods roundish, more or less inflated, and giving
the common name, Bladder-pod, also used for _Isomeris arborea_.
[Sidenote: =White Bladder-pod=
_Lesquerélla purpùrea_
=White, pink
Spring
Arizona=]
Pretty little plants, often growing in quantities among rocks in
mountain canyons. The slender stems are from a few inches to over a
foot tall, springing from a cluster of root-leaves, varying a good deal
in shape, dull-green and harsh to the touch. The flowers are half an
inch or more across, with white petals, often tinged with pink, with
a little yellow in the throat, and form a pretty, rather flat-topped
cluster.
[Sidenote: =Yellow Bladder-pod=
_Lesquerélla Arizònica_
=Yellow
Summer
Arizona=]
In desert places, such as the terrible sandy wastes of the Petrified
Forest, where it seems a miracle that anything should grow, we find
the close, pale, gray-green tufts of this little plant, crowned with
racemes of small bright-yellow flowers. The small, thickish leaves are
long, narrow and white with close down, the stems, about three inches
high, branch at the root and the little pods are tipped with a style
of about their own length. _L. Gordóni_, of Arizona, also has clusters
of little yellow flowers, often covering sandy hillsides with bright
color; the leaves slightly stiff and rough, the pods much inflated. It
resembles _L. purpurea_ in general form and size.
There are many kinds of Brassica, coarse "weeds" in this country. This
is the ancient Latin name for Cabbage, which belongs to this genus, as
well as Cauliflower, Turnip, and Brussels Sprouts.
[Sidenote: =Black Mustard=
_Brássica nìgra_
=Yellow
Summer
U. S.=]
A European "weed," common everywhere. In California it grows to
an enormous height, sometimes twelve feet, and when in bloom is
a beautiful feature of the landscape, covering the fields with a
shimmering sheet of pale gold. The leaves are dark-green, smooth or
with a few hairs, all with leaf-stalks, the lower leaves large and
jagged, cut into leaflets, the upper leaves mostly toothless. The
fragrant flowers form long clusters, each flower about three-quarters
of an inch across; the small, cylindrical pods stand erect, close to
the branching stem. A valuable, antiseptic oil is made from the black,
pungent seeds, exported from California by the ton.
[Illustration: White Bladder-pod--Lesquerella purpurea.]