82 l-LO\VKRS OI r.AKI>, RU'ERS, ETC. 



so far as is known, nor any insects. Water snails arc: fond of ii, e.o-. 

 Limncca, Planorbis, Succinia, &c. 



The old generic name Nastiirtiitvi, given Ijy Plin\'. is derived from 

 iiasHS, nose, tortus, twisted, in reference to the hot character of the 

 plant. 



TItc I^nglish nanu-s are ISillcrs, ISrooklinie. Brown Cress, Carsons, 

 Water Crashes, Water Cress, Eker, Water and Well ('.rass. Water 

 Kerse, Rih, Teng-tongues, Well Grass, Well Kerse. 



The plant was said to th'ive warts away if laid on them. The 

 Greeks used it as a salad and as a medicine. Pliny says it was used 

 for l)rain troubles. In luigland it was first cultivated in iSoi or 

 1808. An aromatic oil which it contains renders it nutritive. The 

 mineral salts which the plant contains render it nutritive. 



Water Cress requires running water, and, when cultivated, plants 

 are bedded at iiuervals, in rows in the direction of the current. The 

 beds .should be kept free from mud antl other plants, and occasionally 

 thinned out. 



ESSENTI.VL Si'ECIllC ClI.VR.VCTERS : 



24. Radicithi NastiirtiiDii aquaticinii, Rendle and Ih'itten. — Stem 

 Ijranched, erect, succulent, leaves bipinnate, lower larger, leaflets rounded, 

 dentate, flowers while, twice as long as caly.x, pod linear, cur\ed. 



Great Yellow Water Cress (Radicula amjihibia, Druce) 



This has not been iound in a fossil condition. It is a nati\c of the 

 Warm Temperate Zone, found in luirope. North Africa, and Tem- 

 perate Asia. In England it is found in Somerset, Wilts, Dorset, 

 Sussex, the whole of the Thames province, as well as in Anglia, 

 throughout the Severn ami Trent provinces, in Montgomery in Wales, 

 but not in Mid Lanes. It is found in the Mersey district, throughout 

 the H umber district, and in Durham. It is naturalized in a few parts 

 of Scotland, as in Dumfries, and occurs in Ireland. 



Like its congener the Water Cress, the Great Yellow Cress is an 

 aquatic plant, half hydrophyte, half a land plant, being amphibious, as 

 the Latin specific natne indicates. It is fond of damp watery places, 

 and very often grows lu.xuriantly and tall in rivers and canals, or in 

 lakes. It has been united with Hor.se Radish, a plant which, likewise, 

 though terrestrial enough in our gardens, where it is difficult to eradi- 

 cate it, is found more or less wild b\- water. 



The habit of this plant is much more like that of Water Cress than 

 any other plant which grows in water, but it is more rigid, more erect. 



