908 SISYMBRIUM. [CLASS XV. order ii. 



Root tapering and branched. Stem erect, about two feet liigh^ 

 round, simple, or branched, more or less clothed with close soft 

 branched pubescence, leafy. Leaves spreading, alternate, doubly pin- 

 nalitid, more or less thickly clothed with close soft branched pubescence, 

 the lower leaves with the lobes lanceolate, or ovate, the upper ones narrow, 

 linear. Inflorescence a terminal sub-corymbose cluster of small yellow 

 flowers, becoming in fruit much elongated racemes. Pedicles slender, 

 spreading. Calyx of four oblong yellow pieces, longer or as long as 

 the narrow oblong petals. Stamens with awl-shaped filaments and 

 oblong yellow anthers. Fruit narrow, linear, smooth, erect, crowned 

 with the small obtuse sessile stigma, the valves distinctly marked with 

 a dorsal vein, the two lateral ones slender. Seeds small, oblong, pale 

 reddish brown. 



Habitat. — Waste places; frequent. 



Annual ; flowering from July to September. 



This species was formerly much used as a remedy in dysentery and 

 hysterical afi'ections, and so highly was it esteemed that it obtained 

 the distinguished appellation of " The Wisdom of Surgeons." But if 

 the wisdom of the surgeons of those days was not further extended 

 than to a reliance on the medicinal virtues of this plant, to cure the 

 fractured limbs or lacerated wounds of their patients, that wisdom 

 must have been limited indeed ! 



4. 8. Allia'ria, Scop. (Fig. 1050.) Garlic Treacle Mustard, Jack by 

 the Hedge, or Sauce Alone. Leaves undivided, petiolated, the lower 

 kidney-shaped, sinuato-dentate, the upper ovate, heart-shaped, and 

 more acutely toothed ; calyx erect ; petals spreading. 



Erysimum Alaria, Linn. — English Botany, t. 796, — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol, i. p. 254. — English Flora, vol. iii. p. 20L — 

 Alliaria officinalis, De Cand. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 29. 



Root fibrous. Stem erect, from one to two feet high, simple or 

 branched, leafy, round, smooth. Leaves petiolated, pale green, smooth, 

 the lower ones kidney-shaped, grossly and obtusely toothed in a sinuated 

 manner, the upper leaves more heart-shaped and acutely toothed. 

 Inflorescence a terminal sub-corymbose raceme of white flowers, be- 

 coming much elongated and racemose. Calyx erect, ovate, pale 

 green. Corolla of four ovate spreading petals, as long again as the 

 calyx, tapering at the base into a claw. Stamens with awl-shaped 

 filaments and ovate anthers. Fruit a linear erect rounded siliqiia, 

 crowned by the sessile stigma, the valves distinctly three ribbed. 

 Seeds small, ovate. 



Habitat. — Hedges, banks, and shady places ; frequent. 



Biennial ; flowering in May and June. 



This plant has a strong garlic taste and smell, and in some parts 

 of the country used by the people as a pot-herb and sauce, being, 

 it is said, excellent with boiled mutton, and any kind of salt meats. 



