924 CARDAMINE. [class xv. ordkR ll. 



from the expansion of its parts of fructification into petals, they con- 

 sequently become barren, so that if other means were not substituted, 

 there would be no further increase of the plant. 



The Cuckoo-flower formerly enjoyed the reputation of being pos- 

 sessed of considerable medicinal properties; but it is now entirely 

 rejected from the list of Materia Medica, and esteemed only as 

 making a gay appearance in our fields and rustic nosegays. 



3. C. ama'ra,Zinn. (Fig. 1068.) Large-jiowered Bitler-cress. Leaves 

 pinnate; leaflets of the radical leaves roundish, of the upper ones 

 oblong, toothed and angular; petals obovate, three times as long as the 

 calyx; style filiform ; stigma acute; root with creeping underground 

 stems. 



English Botany, t. 1000.— English Flora, vol. iii. p. 118. — Hooker, 

 British Flina, ed. 4. vol. i. p, 251.— Lindley, Synopsis, p. 25. 



Root fibrous, with creeping underground stems. Stern erect, about 

 two feet high, smooth, or slightly hairy, striated, and somewhat zigzag, 

 leafy, the lower leaves with three or four pairs of roundish somewhat 

 angular leaflets, the terminal one the largest, smooth, or somewhat 

 hairy, the leaflets of the upper leaves mostly narrower, ovate and 

 toothed, or more angular than the lower ones. Inflorescence terminal 

 and lateral sub-corymbose racemes, much elongated after flowering. 

 Cahjx of four oblong somewhat spreading pieces, with a narrow mem- 

 branous border. Petals four, obovate, entire or notched, three times as 

 long as the calyx, spreading, white or cream-coloured. Stamens with 

 awl-shaped //amends and two celled anthers, of a purple colour. Style 

 slender, filiform. Stigma small, acute. jFrMzi a linear siliqua, erect, 

 smooth, slender. Seeds numerous, compressed, in a single row. 



Habitat. — Wet meadows, banks of pools, ditches, and streams. 



Perennial ; flowering from April to June. 



The flowers of this species are as large as those of C. pratensis, but 

 they are always white or cream-coloured, and the anthers purple, 

 which, together with the shape of the leaves, readily distinguish them 

 from each other. The leaves and stem have a bitter nauseous taste, 

 and sometimes are gathered for the Water-cress, which they somewhat 

 resemble, 



4. C. hirsuUaf Linn. (Fig. 1069.) Hairy Bitter-cress. Leaves 

 pinnate; leaflets petiolated, those of the radical leaves roundish, 

 ovate, angular, or toothed, the upper oblong, or linear and toothed ; 

 petals oblong, as long again as the calyx ; style short, thick ; stigma 

 obtuse. 



English Botany, t. 492. — English Flora, vol.*iii. p. 188. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 251. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 25. 



Root fibrous. Stem erect, or ascending, about a foot high, simple, 

 or branched, zigzag, angular and furrowed, hairy, larely smooth, 

 leafy. -Leairs pinnate, mostly hairy, dark green, the /eo^^f^ on short 



