PURPLE SPRING-CRESS 



in their ability to possess the earth, for the family has 

 learned to do team-work, to produce many pods on a 

 stem and many seeds in a pod. It has also developed 

 a pungent and biting juice 

 to warn off the premises 

 marauding worms and cat- 

 erpillars. 



The flowers of the family, 

 big or little, are practically 

 alike. The petals are ar- 

 ranged in the form of a 

 Greek cross, that is, all the 

 arms are of equal length. 

 The six stamens are in two 

 sets, four long and two short. 

 The fruit is a pod, not like 

 the pod of a pea or bean, but 

 a pod with a thin m^em- 

 brane running lengthwise, 

 dividing it into two divi- 

 sions, each having a row of 

 seeds. 



The Purple Cress was long 

 considered a variety of the 

 White Cress, Carddmine 

 rhomboldea. The specific 

 differences between them are not many. The Purple 

 Cress is a smaller plant, blooms earlier, and has a more 

 northw^ard range. Its blossoms are pale purple-pink, 

 those of Carddmine rhomboldea are white and often a 

 little larger; otherwise the plants are alike. It is 

 abundant in northern Ohio and appears shortly after 

 and often with the Hepatica. Our native Carddmine 



103 



Purple Spring Cress. Carddmine 

 purpurea 



