5 2 Criicife7'a'. {^Nasturthim. 



Throuc^hout India, and extends to Persia, and to China, Japan, the 

 Malay Islands, and tropical Australia ; often planted. 



This is the Cyamus or ' Sacred Bean ' of ancient Egypt, but is usually 

 called the ' Lotus' by Europeans in the East. It does not now grow in 

 Egypt. 



A great ornament to the tanks, often covering many acres with its 

 curious leaves and fruit and magnihcent flowers. 



The large seeds are an article of food. 



Argejnone mexicana, L. (Papaveraceje), a yellow-flov.ered poppy with 

 variegated green and white prickly leaves, is frequently found as a weed 

 in waste ground, especially in the dry region. It is a native oftrop. 

 America, and is figured in Wight, 111. t. ii. 



VIII.— CRUCIFER^. 



Herb.S ; 1. alternate, without stip. ; fl. regtilar, bisexual ; sep. 4, 

 imbricate ; pet. 4 or o ; stam. 6 (or 4 or 2), the 4 inner longer, 

 in pairs ; ov. 2-celled by an extension of the placentas form- 

 ing a false dissepiment, ovules several or numerous, in i or 2 

 rows on parietal placentas ; fruit a 2-celled siliqua or pod, 

 dehiscent by 2 valves, which are completely deciduous ; 

 embryo large, with flat cotyledons and a bent-up radicle ; 

 no endosperm. 



Pods cylindrical, seeds ovoid i. NASTURTIUM. 



Pods compressed, seeds flattened . . . .2. Cardamine. 



Three species only scarcely represent this vast family, which is mainly 

 characteristic of temperate regions. Two are found in our montane zone, 

 and the other is a weed in cultivated ground. Both the genera are 

 British. 



I. NASTURTZUIVI, Br. 



Herbs ; sep. 4, spreading ; pet. 4, spreading ; stam. 6 ; 

 fruit a short, cylindrical, slightly turgid siliqua, dehiscent by 

 2 papery valves, septum very thin, transparent ; seeds numerous, 

 in 2 rows, ovoid. — Sp. 20; 4 in Fl. B. Ind. 



*N. indicum, DC. Syst. Veg. ii. 199 (1821). 



Hk. f. and Th. in Journ. Linn. Soc. v. 138. Thw. Enum. 399. C. P. 



3747- 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 134. Wight, III. t. 13 (A", inadagascartense). 



An annual herb, i 2 ft., erect, branched, glabrous ; 1. sessile, 

 lyrate-pinnatifid, irregularly dentate, acute, tapering to base, 

 which is suddenly dilated and auriculatc ; fl. small, in elon- 

 gated, erect, lax racemes terminating stem and branches, 



