FAMILIES OF FLOWEKING PLANTS 



115 



" head," the hitter of the enlarged root. Mustard is derived from the 

 seeds of another species of Brass lea; the genus is illustrated in Fig. 98. 

 The radish is the root of Eaphanus sativns; while horse-radish is the 

 dried and pulverized root of Rorippa Armoracia. Among ornamental 

 crucifers may be mentioned the stock {Matthiola), the rocket {Hesperis), 

 the candytuft {Iberis), and the sweet alyssum {Konig maritimum)* 



Family Tovariaceae. Tovaria Family. Consists of a single genus 

 and species, Tovaria peudida, a tropical American herb with an odor 

 resembling that of celery, and structurally similar to the caperworts. 



Family Capparidaceae. 

 Caper Family. Contains 

 about 35 genera and 400 

 8i)ecies, natives chiefly of 

 Vk'arm regions, and compris- 

 ing both herbs and shrubs. 

 They have simple or palmate 

 leaves and variously clus- 

 tered flowers. The sepals 

 are from 4 to 8, the i^etals 

 usually 4, often borne on 

 long claws; the stamens are 

 from 6 to many, all of equal 

 length. The ovary is fre- 

 quently long-stalked, and be- 

 comes in fruit either a cap- 

 sule or a berry. 



Several species of Cleonie 

 are prominent among the 

 flowers of the western plains, 

 as also two species of Pola- 

 nlsla, the " clammy- weed," so 

 called on account of its viscid pubescence (see Fig. 99.) Capers are 

 the preserved flower-buds of a species of Capparis, and the industry is 

 an important one in some parts of Europe. 



Family Eesedaceae. Mignonette Family. Contains 6 genera and 

 about 55 species, belonging mostly to the Old World. They are herbs 

 with alternate leaves and unsymmetrical flowers, borne in spikes or 

 racemes. The calyx is 4-7 parted, the petals similar; stamens usually 

 numerous; ovary compound, becoming in fruit a many-seeded capsule. 



Fig. 99. The clammy-weed {Polanisia graveolens). 

 After Britton & Brown, 111. Fl. Northeast. U. S. 



* Odd as this name may appear to the uninitiated, the genus was first published by 

 Adanson with this designation, and by a consistent application of the rule of priority 

 in nomenclature, must remain with unchanged orthography. The plea that such a 

 name is not correctly Latinized is without force when one considers the numerous ety- 

 mological barbarities now in use. 



