890 COCHLEARIA. CCLASS xv. order I. 



GENUS XTII. COCHLEA'RIA— Linn. Scurvy-grass. 



Nat. Ord. Crucif'er^. Juss. 



Gen. Char. Silicula oval, or sub-rotundate, with very convex or 

 turgid valves. Seed^ mostly without a margin. Calyx equal. 

 Petals entire. Filaments simple. Cotyledons accumbent. — (e 

 Fig. 1, p. 871 ) — Name from cochlear^ a spoon ; from the shape of 

 the leaves. 



1. C. officina'lis, Linn. (Fig. 1028.) Common Scurvy-grass. 

 Silicula globose, slightly veiny ; radical leaves petiolated, broadly 

 ovate, sub-cordate, entire, or sinuated, the upper ones sessile, deeply 

 cordate, lobed at the base, and embracing the stem. 



English Botany, t. 551. — English Flora, vol. iii. p. 175. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p 248. — Lindley, Synopsis, p, 27. 



Root tapering, and with branched fibres. Stems mostly several, 

 branched, angular, smooth, succulent, leafy, very variable in size. 

 Leaves smooth, somewhat fleshy, dark green, the radical ones on long 

 cliauneled footstalks, broadly ovate, somewhat heart-shaped at the 

 base, waved, or sinuated on the margin, the stem leaves sessile, oblong, 

 deeply cordate, with two lateral lobes embracing the stem, more or less 

 waved, and deeply toothed towards the base. Inflorescence terminal 

 and lateral, corymbose, racemes of numerous flowers, becoming much 

 elongated when in fruit. Calyx of four equal ovate concave pieces, 

 pale and membranous on the margin. Corolla of four equal white 

 ovate oblong petals, tapering at the base into a claw. Stamens with 

 slender awl-shaped simple filaments. Anthers yellow, of two ovate 

 cells. Fruit a roundish ovate silicula, smooth, obscurely reticulated 

 with veins, crowned by the short style and obtuse stigma, two celled, 

 each cell from four to six seeded, the pedicles three times as long as the 

 silicula, spreading, slender. 



Habitat. — Stony or muddy places on the sea coast, also on marshy 

 places in mountainous districts. 



Annual; flowering in May and June. 



Scurvy-grass is frequently cuhivated in gardens for its medicinal 

 properties, the expressed juice being used as an antiscorbutic, but it 

 does not now enjoy so great a reputation as formerly. 



2. C. Grcenlan'dica, Linn. (Fig. 1029 ) Greenland Scurvy Grass. 

 Silicula globose, slightly veined ; radical leaves petiolated, kidney, 

 shaped, entire, fleshy, upper ones sessile, oblong, entire or toothed at 

 the base. 



English Botany, t. 2403.— English Flora, vol. iii. p. 175. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 249. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 27. 



Root tapering, and with branched fibres. Stems mostly several, 

 simple or branched, erect and spreading, from t^o to four inches higb , 



