BRASSICA Napus.
Rape, Navew, or Cole-seed.
TETRA D YNAMIA Siliquosa.
Gen. Char. Cal. erect, partly cohering. Seeds
globular. Pod nearly cylindrical; the partition
prominent, awl-shaped. Glands 4 .
Spec. Char. Root caulescent, spindle-shaped. Leaves
smooth ; the upper ones lanceolate, heart-shaped at
their base, clasping the stem; lower ones lyrate,
toothed.
Syn. Brassica Napus. Linn. Sp. PI. 9 3 1 . Sm. FI.
Brit. 719. Huds. 290. With. 590. Hull. ed.
2. 198. Relh. 261. Sibih. 204. Abbot. 145.
Mart. Rust. t. 103.
Napus sylvestris. Rail Syn. 295.
R a y seems to have scarcely thought the wild navew indigenous
; but it is now at least perfectly naturalized, growing
in fields, as well as about banks and waste ground, flowering
early in summer.
Root biennial, spindle-shaped, forming a kind of trunk
above ground. Stem branched, spreading, leafy, round, striated,
smooth. Leaves all smooth, of a light green, rather
glaucous, especially underneath : the radical ones are lyrate,
mostly disappearing as the plant shoots up to flower: those
which grow on the stem are numerous, alternate, broader,
blunte and more toothed as they are nearer the bottom, the
upper ones being more lanceolate and entire; all of them
clasp the stem with their dilated rounded base. The calyx is
yellowish, and spreads considerably. Petals of a full bright
yellow. Pods on slender stalks, spreading, round, beaded,
with an angular point.
It is cultivated for the sake of the oil procured by expression
from its seeds, the cake which remains affording an excellent
manure. J/i: idu/o /uMdtd/y