MOUNTAIN FLOWERS 15 



WATER-CRESS 



Nasturtium officinale. Mustard Family 



Aquatic, glabrous ; root fibrous. Stems : stout, hollow, rooting at the 

 decumbent base. Leaves: pinnate, leaflets rounded or elongated, the ter- 

 minal ones largest. Flowers : petals white ; sepals four, early-falling ; 

 stamens six; style short, thick. Fruit: pods divaricately spreading, seeds 

 in two rows. Not indigenous. 



Surely it is a libel to call this plant Nasturtium, which 

 signifies "twisted nose," and is given to Water-cress simply 

 because we are supposed to turn up our noses when we eat 

 its acrid leaves. Those who go out to gather flowers will 

 seldom pause to pick this insignificant plant, whose clusters 

 of small white flowers grow close beside, or actually in, the 

 streams and ponds, and whose only claim upon our attention 

 lies in the pleasant pungent flavour of its leaves. 



STONY ROCK-CRESS 



Arabis Holboellii. Mustard Family 



Stems: erect, simple. Leaves: spatulate, petioled, entire or sparingly 

 toothed; stem-leaves erect, clasping. Flowers: white or pinkish. Fruit: 

 pods linear, drooping. 



Growing out of a cluster of long-shaped leaves, the Stony 

 Rock-cress has a tall stalk, up which many tiny narrow leaves 

 cling. The flowers are small, white, mauve, or pinkish bells, 

 growing in a raceme. This plant, as its name indicates, is gen- 

 erally found in very dry, stony places. It grows from eight 

 to eighteen inches high, and has very long, narrow seed-pods, 

 which droop downwards. 



ALPINE ROCK-CRESS 



Arabis cojifinis. Mustard Family 



Stems : glaucous, simple or sparingly branched, one to two feet high. 

 Leaves: stellate, pubescent, obovate ; stem-leaves sessile, auricled at the 

 base. Fruit: pods narrow, one to two inches long, spreading. 



