ˈtower ˈmustard Herb.
[So named, according to Britten and Holland, from its habit of growth. According to Linnæus, called Turritis (Tournefort) as being ‘alta et stricta’.]
Popular name of a cruciferous plant, Turritis glabra, found on banks and cliffs. Called also towers treacle, towerwort, and sometimes tower cress.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. xxii. 212 Towers Mustarde, of some hath beene taken for a kinde of Cresses. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict., Turritis, Tower-Mustard. 1842 C. W. Johnson Farmer's Cycl. s.v., Turritis, from turris, a tower; the foliage is so disposed on the stems as to give them a pyramidal form, and for the same reason the plants are called tower-mustard. |
b. Sometimes applied to Arabis Turrita (see tower-cress); also called bastard tower mustard.
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 320 Mustard, Bastard Tower, Arabis. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v. Mustard, Mustard, Tower..also Arabis Turrita. 1874 Gray Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 69 A[rabis] perfoliata, Lam. (Tower Mustard). |