Wild Kale.Brassica nigra.Black Mustard.
Found in fallow fields in August.
The stalk, about 3 feet in height, branches near the top, and is leafy; it is round, but flattened just beneath a joint, smooth, save for an occasional weak bristle-like hair, and of a shining light green color, becoming darker and tinged with purplish-red at the joints.
The lower leaves are deeply cleft into 5 or more lobes, the middle lobe being largest, with irregularly notched margins; the upper leaves are a narrow oblong shape, but slightly toothed; all the leaves are loose-textured, hairy underneath, and green, the lower ones having a yellow tint. They are set on stems, alternately, and at the spring of the branches.
The 4 petals of the small flower have slender bases, and spread their tips in the oblong-cross design which gives the family of Mustards its Latin name; their texture is delicate, and color a pure yellow; the pistil is green, with a yellow tip, and there are 4 yellow stamens; the 4 calyx-divisions are slender, greenish-yellow, and as long as the base of the petals which they hold loosely. The flowers form round club-like clusters, which prolong themselves as the blossoms mature.
The seed-pod is 4-angled, and tipped with the little tenacious pistil. These light and feathery flowers are seen to best advantage when, lifting their slender stems above the thickets that congregate in the lee of old buildings, they show their yellow against the weather-worn gray-lavender timbers. They love old cellar-holes also, and peep airily in at the blank windows of deserted houses.