84 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



colour. The fruits are short, and thicker than the pedicels. A 

 double variety of this flower is commonly cultivated in flower 

 gardens. 



The Early Winter Cress is a very 

 similar plant, flowering at the same 

 time, but is of a more slender habit, 

 and has narrower leaves, the upper 

 of which are pinnately divided. 

 The flowers are also larger, and 

 arranged in a closer raceme ; and 

 the fruit is longer, but not 

 thicker than the pedicel. This 

 species is cultivated as a salad, and 

 frequently occurs as a garden 

 escape. 



Two species of Sisymbrium are 

 also very common — the Garlic Mus- 

 tard {S. alliaria), also known as 

 Sauce Alone and Jack-by-the- 

 Hedge ; and the Thale Cress or 

 Wall Cress {S. Thaliana). The 

 first named is one of the com- 

 monest of our hedgerow flowers. 

 It grows to a height of one or two 

 feet, and bears, from April to June, 

 a corymbose cluster of pure white 

 flowers, each about a quarter of 

 an inch in diameter. The stem and 

 leaves, when crushed, emit a dis- 

 tinct odour of garlic. The former is 

 slightly branched ; and the leaves 

 are large, stalked, broadly cordate, 

 with many prominent veins, 

 coarsely toothed, and of a delicate 

 green colour. The fruits are erect, 

 about two inches long, on short 

 pedicels. 

 The Thale Cress grows on dry banks and walls, and displays 

 its minute white flowers from April to the end of the summer. 

 The stem is erect, slender and branched, from six to ten inches in 

 height ; and the leaves, which are nearly all radical, are simple, 



THE YELLOW Rocket. 



