MUSTARD FAMILY 



CRUCIFER. MUSTARD FAMILY 



Cakile edentula, (Bigel) Hook. 



Pale purple-pink Sea Rocket. 



July-September 



Cakile: an old Arabic name. 



Edentula: Latin, meaning without teeth. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: beaches. 



THE PLANT: spreading or erect; the stem bushily branched, 

 very fleshy and tough, the lower branches spreading, the 

 central ones erect. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; oblanceolate or obovate; three 

 inches to four inches long; without hairs on either surface; 

 rounded at the apex; narrowed at the base; wavy-toothed 

 or lobed. 



THE FLOWERS: numerous, in a raceme, the uppermost 

 often yet unopened, when the flowers have gone to seed; 

 the corolla wheel-shaped; four petals, more than twice the 

 length of the sepals; the sepals short and inconspicuous, 

 falling early. 



THE FRUIT: a silicle, the upper joint slightly longer than 

 the lower, narrowed into a beak above; or, when young, 

 the joints nearly even. 



A clean and sturdy plant of the beaches, with a peculiarly 

 smooth appearance of the fleshy stems and thick leaves. 

 In spite of its stoutness and awkwardness, the plant, at 

 least when in bloom, is saved from being unattractive 

 by the colour of the pale purple-pink wide-open flowers, 

 that appear at the ends of the branches. 



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