Capsella bursa-pastoris.

Capsella bursa-pastoris Medic. Cruciferae. Mother's Heart. Shepherd's Purse.

Temperate regions. One of the commonest of weeds, this plant has accompanied Europeans in all their navigations and established itself wherever they have settled to till the soil. Johns says it was formerly used as a potherb. Johnson says, as improved by cultivation, "it is used in America as a green vegetable, being largely raised about Philadelphia for sale in the markets." Darlington, the botanist, who lived near Philadelphia, calls it "a worthless little intruder from Europe," and we are disposed to believe that the statement of its culture is one of the errors which are copied from book to book. In China, it is collected by the poor and largely eaten as food.

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.